The Birdy and the Spider
by macy-terreth
Summary: Clint and Natasha's friendship has always been strong, so what happens when Clint starts feeling... Different around her? Does she feel the same? And should he even be thinking about this kind of stuff when there's a time traveling device they need to find and fix, as the others are kids, before they run out of time? Story better than summary. Clintasha.
1. Chapter 1

**I would love to own Marvel. Unfortunately, I don't. **

**PM or review to help me improve my writing.**

"Don't worry Clint," She assured him, "Like hell it's going to explode."

He didn't react, but Clint secretly worried that it would blow up, taking out the whole warehouse with them in it.

"Just be careful Tasha," Was all he said.

Natasha snorted, picking up the little nuclear bomb. "See?" She showed him the bomb sitting in her palm and Clint slightly relaxed. "I told you the little nuke wouldn't-"

But she was cut off by a sudden loud bang, and Clint was thrown back away from her.

He wasn't sure exactly how long he was out, but he awoke from his ears filling with an endless ringing noise that droned on and on. Clint forced his eyes open to a fiery scene, wood burning, flames engulfing everything in his sight.

Hawkeye gulped. "Natasha?" He called, blinded by the smoke.

No one answered him.

"NATASHA!" He yelled, springing to his feet. "Nat?!"

Clint ran through the flames, dodging between the falling and burning debris.

"Natasha?!" He screamed again, and accidentally inhaled a large amount of smoke, causing him to cough. "NAT?! Where are-Oh god."

Natasha was lying on the ground, groaning, blood covering her. Half of her face was bloody and charred, her hair singed. Her eyes were closed and she stilled.

"Tasha?" Hawkeye bent down, cradling her head. "Tasha, stay with me!" He urged, but she didn't stir anymore. "Hang on, I'm getting us out of here."

He grabbed her arm, pulled her upper torso up and scooped her legs up, carrying her bridal style.

Clint glanced around, looking for a clear exit. "Crap crap crap crap craaaaap..." The warehouse's roof started groaning and creaking as the fire started swallowing it whole.

He spotted a clear window, but he'd have to run through a wall of flame, literally.

"Hang on, Tasha." He muttered, and charged towards the window, shoulders bracing for impact.

As Clint leaped through the shattering glass, the whole warehouse collapsed, but Clint kept running, going further and deeper into the woods nearby.

Halfway, Hawkeye collapsed, Natasha still in his arms. That's when he noticed noticed his arms and legs covered in third-degree burns, singing his flesh.

It was at this point that he thanked adrenaline for delaying the pain.

"Hawkeye, report!" Fury's voice echoed in his earpiece, but the ringing in Clint's ear kept going. "What the hell is going on?!"

Haweye panted, stating, "Black Widow is down, I repeat, Black Widow, down."

"Shot?" Fury demanded, sounding fully pissed off, "Condition?"

"No, nuke explosion." Clint leant against a tree, catching his breath. "I think critical condition covers it," He says, glancing at Natasha, who lay on the ground, frighteningly still.

"Shit." Fury muttered angrily. "Where are you?"

Hawkeye glanced around. "Outskirts of a wood nearby."

"We'll find you." Fury hissed. "Keep her damn alive. I don't give a shit what you have to fucking do to keep her alive, but don't lose her."

Clint almost rolled his eyes if it weren't for Natasha lying there, unconscious. Fine, so Fury didn't care how he was. "Yes sir, Hawkeye out."

"Fury out." And the line died.

So Clint sat down on the rock, checking his burns idly. They were pretty bad, but didn't compare to the degree of injuries Natasha had. Her hair was matted and most of it was singed off. Her face, half of it was melted away, mixed with her blood and flesh. If it weren't for her special gloves and suit, she probably would have lost complete use of her hands and arms, because they were the first to come into contact when the explosion happened.

He hoped she would be okay. He berated himself for letting her pick up the nuke when Fury had clearly stated that might not be a good idea. Why couldn't it have blown up in his face? Why her?  
What scared him the most was how long he was in those woods before they actually got there, and how long he watched Natasha's blood glisten on his fingers and on the ground, helpless.

**Will post more soon, if you guys enjoyed it. :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I wish I owned Marvel. SOOO MUCH, but unforch, I don't.**

**Thanks Doggielilly and I Am Number 14 for being my first reviewers! **

**PM or Review to let me know what to improve.**

**I want you to enjoy this as much as I enjoyed writing it for you guys.**

**WARNING: AVENGERS SPOILERS**

* * *

When they got back, Natasha was put under intense surveillence and care.

For once, the tough master assassin looked frail and small through the smudged viewing glass of the medical bay.

Despite Fury pushing for Clint to treat his wounds, Clint refused, and took to watching over Natasha instead, day and night.

He couldn't sleep, and when he could nightmares flooded every chamber of his mind of the incident. A lot of them were about Natasha not waking up, and dying before him.

He couldn't stand it.

He couldn't be near fire or hear the words 'bomb' or 'warehouse' because he couldn't bear it.

When Natasha did heal up, Clint swore to himself he would never let her get into another accident, even if it meant disobeying every order Fury had commanded.

* * *

One year later...

"Clint, you need to get up!" Her voice echoed in his mind. "Get up, hurry!"

He lay still, un-moving. What fate awaited him if he sat up? Surely not a good one. His hand raked his back for his bow and arrows that he knew weren't there.

This was it.

This was the end.

Clint felt the hand grab his leg, and he knew that this was it, this was truly it.

Natasha pulled him up and slammed him back into the mat, laughing all the while.

She looked down at him, lying and groaning on the training mat. "Told you I'd kick your ass at training."

"That's only because you took my arrows away and snapped my bow." He mutters, laying still.

"Would you like to testify?" Natasha grins, then kneeling down to help him up. Her red hair had grown back and was tied back in a ponytail. Her face had healed nicely, but there was no hiding the burn scars the lingered near her ear. Her hands seemed fine and could work just as well, but Clint couldn't look at them without imagining the shiny blood that once glistened in the moonlight.

"There's a reason I use arrows," He said, taking her hand gingerly, "And there's also a reason I disagreed that you couldn't kick my ass."

"You use arrows because you're lame and you suck at using guns." She said, wiping her sweaty hands on her tight white t-shirt. "And you disagreed to the fact that I could kick your ass because... Well actually, I don't know the reason to that one."

"I disagreed because I was going easy on you," He lied, "and I also don't hit girls."

Natasha frowned. "Would you like to say that last part again?"

"I also don't-"

"BLACK WIDOW! HAWKEYE, REPORT!" Fury's voice boomed on the P.A. in the training room.

"Ah, that's Fury," Natasha's grin reappeared. "Always saving your sorry ass."

Clint opened his mouth to protest, but Fury relentlessly called them again.

"Meet me in the meeting room immedietly!" Fury yelled. "AND WHEN I SAY IMMEDIETLY I MEAN RIGHT FUCKING NOW!"

"But-" Natasha started, but Fury continued.

"NO QUESTIONS!" He barked. "NOW!"

Natasha groaned. "It better be good," She muttered, looking at her training outfit of black short shorts and white t-shirt.

"Don't worry," Clint commented, looking at his own training clothes, which he found that he looked less impressive in, "You look fine." He was wearing grey shorts and a green t-shirt, which was probably a size too small for him, because it was squeezing his lungs out.

They walked through the halls together to the meeting room, and together, peeked through the slightly ajar door.

There sat Fury wearing his usual pissed off look at the long end of the table, there was a slightly pulled out chair on his left, Thor to his right, Bruce Banner next to the empty chair, and Steve Rogers next to Thor. Clint took a seat next to Steve, and Natasha silently took a seat next to Bruce.

At that moment, the door swung wider open, and Tony Stark stood there, wearing Ray Ban sunglasses, and a leather jacket over his Led Zeppelin t-shirt and jeans.

"Hey, everyone's here!" Tony grinned, but Fury was not amused. "Where's da par-tay at?"

Fury gestured to the seat beside him, and Tony silently obeyed, walking to the chair that was pulled out for him.

"Everyone," Fury began, "Ask Stark why you're all here."

Everyone turned on Tony, but he didn't shy away.

"You're why I'm here in this air-conditioned room in just my shorts and t-shirt?" Natasha's face was knit with annoyance. "I should kill you. Right. Now."

"Please don't, sweetheart." Tony grinned wildly. "Oh Clint, were you always so toned? Because you look good!" He let out a high-pitched gleeful scream.

Clint felt himself flush slightly red, not because of Tony, but because Natasha was staring at him.

"Stark." Clint said, regaining his composure. "Why are we here?"

"Uh..." Tony glanced at Bruce momentarily. "There are god of mischief shaped holes in my floor the last time we were together, so I'm guessing this has something to do with that."

"It wasn't Bruce's fault." Steve proclaims. "It was the-"

"Oh be quiet Capsicle," Tony interrupts. "What do you know?"

Steve looked really offended, but also like he had no idea what just happened.

Thor stayed quiet, slowly pulling over to bowl of nuts that were in the middle of the table.

"You know what, just shut the hell up." Fury said impatiently. "I'll tell you why! Stark here decided that it was going to be fun to make a little time capsule."

"Yeah... So...?" Natasha looked confused, and she shivered in the cold slightly.

"Not just any capsule," Fury adds, "One that will actually cause you to be able to do time travel."

"And then let me guess," Clint said, "Sparky lost it."

"I didn't lose it!" Tony snapped, "I... Misplaced it."

"And now we have to clean up after him." Steve concluded.

"Oh, whoop de fricking doo." Natasha said sarcastically, twirling her finger in the air. "How come it seems everytime something happens, it's always Tony Stark's fault?"

"What? Excuse me, but how was the other thing with the Tessaract my fault?" He retaliated, but no one answered him. "Come on Thor, you gotta be on my side."

Thor's mouth hung slightly open, chewed up nuts inside. He swallowed. "My friend Tony," He said, popping another nut into his mouth. "I wish I could aid you, but I'm afraid our other friends are correct."

"Oh, who needs you?" Tony muttered, turning to Bruce and giving him puppy dog eyes.

"Don't you guys understand?" Bruce suddenly said loudly, standing up. "If Tony lost the object of time-travel, it could fall into the wrong hands! The world could blow up!"

"That's not the worse part." Fury added. "Stark also thought it was a great idea if added your DNA strands into it."

"That's the only way it would work, Captain Hook!" Tony argued against Fury, "It needed 5 DNA strands, and I..." He stopped and hesitantly continued. "Just... So... Happened to have your strands on hand..."

"Wow, that's definitely not creepy at all," Clint commented.

"Shut up, birdbrain!"

"That's better than being a tin-man!"

"Pigeon-head!"

"Metal brain!"

"Ladies please, you're both beautiful," Natasha says dryly, making Bruce smile wryly.

"Y'all ain't making any sense!" Fury hollers, "Now shut the fuck up, and find that stupid capsule that Stark lost!"

* * *

**Yeah, it's kind of long...**

**If you guys enjoy it, I promise I'll update more often, just tell me you guys like it.**

**Or hate it, either way, I'll still update it. **

**And also, I'm sorry if they were out of character. I'm not an AMAZING writer I wish I was. **

**Love you guys!**


	3. Chapter 3

**What's up, guys! **

**Thanks for reviewing, I really appreciate it.**

**Disclaimer: I SOO WISH I OWNED MARVEL, but alas, I do not.**

**As... Someone once said, you have to not have something to appreciate it. Or something like that.**

**Tony: Just shaddup already. Please.**

**Clint: Um... She made this story.**

**Tony: ****_And_**** everybody's hating on me! I mean, that's not even possible.**

**Clint: She's making you say that.**

**Tony: No, I have a mind of my own!**

**Clint: Or do you...? She's controlling me too!**

**Tony: GAAAHHH!**

**Natasha: Please ignore the weirdos and enjoy the story.**

* * *

"So explain to me why you put our DNA strands into it?" Natasha asked Tony as they left the meeting room. "And how will that affect us?"

"Uh... The last time with the Tesseract, I kinda... Got my hands on a couple of hairs and uh..." Tony pressed his fingers together. "If someone hits the wrong button we might be transformed into old people or kids." He made the ending sound like a question.

"WHAT?!" Steve, Bruce and Natasha exclaimed in unison.

Clint sighed. "You couldn't just keep it low-key. You _had_ to make sure it could render us as children."

"You already act like a child, it'll be the same thing!" Tony said sarcastically.

"Loki?" Thor asked suddenly, glancing around, "Loki where?!" He held out his hand in a too familiar position.

"NO THOR!" They screamed in unison but too late; his hammer came smashing through a nearby window and into Thor's grip.

Clint's eyes were wide. "Seriously, I said '_low-key_'," He put tons of emphasis on the word. "Not Loki."  
Thor gave Clint puppy-dog eyes.

To avoid him, Clint turned to Natasha, who was staring at him already. He nearly jumped at this fact, but kept his composure. "So Sparky, if we turn to children, how can we you know-" Clint and Natasha held each other's gazes for a long time, such a long time, it turned to an awkward amount of time.

Someone wolf-whistled, and Natasha was the first to snap out of it. "Who whistled?"

No one replied to her.

"-reverse it if we have to?" Clint finished and Bruce jumped in.

"I think that there should be a button on the time capsule," The alter-ego of Hulk turned to Tony, "Unless _someone_ didn't think to put it on."

"I'm not an idiot," Tony snapped, rolling his eyes, "Of course I put a reverse button on!"

"So where did you lose it?" Steve asks, standing still in the middle of the hall.

"Didn't lose it." Tony mutters quietly.

"I'm sorry, _misplace_ it." Steve corrects himself, "Where did you, 'misplace' the capsule?" He made air quotation marks on the word misplace.

"Well," Tony stares up at the ceiling, a look of focus locked onto his face. "JARVIS was helping me fix it out, warning me that it was a bad idea-"

"And did you listen?" Clint interrupts rudely and rhetorically, "No!"

"-so I decided to put it away," Tony continues, shooting Clint a dirty look, otherwise pretending nothing happened, "and by accident, it kind of seperated into five different parts." He held up his hand, fingers close together, and then spread them out wide, expressions flashing between amusement and seriousness.

"Everything's just an accident with you, isn't it?" Clint comments again, and this time, Tony kicks him in the shins enthusiastically.

"Last time... JARVIS... Checked..." Tony only paused to continue sparring with Clint, who currently was in a headlock by Tony, "Yours..." He was looking at Natasha, "And... Birdface's... Was in... Canada!" He finished when Clint kicked him onto the ground.

"So what now?" Natasha asked, helping Tony up while Clint whined about her being on the enemy's side, "We go retrieve it?"

"Midgard friends," Thor said, "I suggest that we each travel in different directions in order to find this capsule of time travel, and retrieve it, so friend Stark may fix the damage he has inflicted on us."

"Good idea," Clint says in a fake tone, forcing a smile, "Metal brain has to fix all this '_damage he has inflicted on us_'." He slightly altered his voice to mock Thor for calling them 'Midgard friends' which he still had no idea as to what the heck Midgard stood for. It could be slang for something, like best friends, or something else lame that none of them understood.

Natasha put her hand on Clint's shoulder, a sudden action that caused shivers to ride up his spine.  
Why? They had been partners, best friends, for such a long time now, so why would such a small touch cause his mind to reel and his stomach to do a gymnastics routine?

"Clint and I will go retrieve ours, indefinitely." She nodded at him, face still wary, and his own face grew warm.

"Meet back here when everybody has their pieces?" Steve suggested, and everybody nodded.

"Hang on!" Tony called, "How about the shawarma place?"

But everybody had already left.

"Guys!"

"Come on, I thought you guys like shawarma!"

"You guys still hear me, right?"

"Hello?"

"So now I'm the crazy guy just talking to myself."

"I hate you guys."

* * *

**Yeah, it's really short, but only because I know for sure more is coming!**

**R&R, or just review y'all.**

**Sghsfsvkl erslfsjkls dovjpap!**

**Or, please review guys! in a language I ****_just_**** made up.**

**Love you guys!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I own Marvel. Not.**

**PM or review if you ****_want_**** me to improve. If you don't I will still suck at writing.**

**I'm sorry if they were slightly out of character, I'm having a distracting day.**

**Clint: But why did you have to make this so awkward?**

**Tony: Uh, SPOILER ALERT! (imitates a police siren.)**

**Natasha: Um, loser alert. **

**Tony: Oh be quiet, Rushman. Or whatever the hell your last name is.**

**Natasha: (smirks.) You like Pepper.**

**Tony: So? What if I do?**

**Clint: NO ONE WANTS TO READ THIS! JUST LET THEM READ THE STORY, NUGGETS!**

**Natasha: Nuggets?**

* * *

"Tranq bullets?" Clint asked Natasha, pointing at her gun, and she jerked her head quickly.

They were outside the facility, (In CANADA, the magical land where reindeer thrive and where Iron Man shoots them down) where the time capsule with their DNA in it was being hidden, or held, either was correct, according to JARVIS.

Avengers don't kill. They... Knock the bad guys unconscious.

He looked over his shoulder, over the underbrush they were sitting behind. "On three?"

"On three."

"One." He said, flipping over onto his stomach, pulling out his arrows.

"Two." Natasha whispered, cocking her pistols.

"Three." They said at the same time, and both leaped up, shooting their tranquilzer-amped weapons at the enemy, causing them to fall into a deep sleep.

Clint watched as Natasha disappeared in a blur of red and black into the facility before him.

When all the people where knocked down, Clint still stayed wary, stalking stealthily over to the facility door.

He held his breath as he heard quick footsteps approaching him. Quickly, as he'd been trained held up his arrow immidietly, and watched as a blur of red hair careened around the corner, and smashed into him.

"Ow." They muttered to themselves, getting up.

Clint licked his chapped lips. How could Canadians live in weather like this? It's not just cold, it's frigid. He shivered slightly before asking, "Coast clear?"

"I thought you'd been attacked," Natasha muttered after nodding in response.

Clint stayed silent, as if this hurt. "Ouch, you just bruised my ego."

With a simple "Whatever," The two stormed into the facility, grabbing a bunch of lab coats off the wall and putting them on over their weapons.

Or tried to, until a lady noticed Natasha busily stuffing a pistol into her pocket.

Deciding that their cover was now fully blown, they decided to use a less formal approach, and just take down all the people who tried to fight them.

"Hey Clint, those muscles won't do you any good until you use them!" The redhead said, watching him get knocked down for the fifth time. She shot a few more people before ducking back down, narrowly avoiding a bullet that flew over her head.

Clint glanced up, knocking a guy to the ground. "Is that your way of telling me you're checking out my muscles?"

Natasha flushed a little red, but didn't miss a beat as she roundhouse kicked a man to the floor. "That's my way of telling you that you stink at fighting and could do better!"

He shot two arrows at three guys, knocking one down and one into another. "I know that I'm a better fighter than you." He smirked, but suddenly a bullet hit his shoulder blade.

Clint cursed under his breath, dropping from its force.

"What's that you said?" Natasha called sarcastically as she back flipped, knocking another guy down.

"It's not fair!" He complained, pushing down on his wound, "You have your ninja skills!"

"And you call the fact that everyone thinks I can't fight because I'm a girl is fair?"

"Well, to be perfectly honest..." Clint started, and Natasha shot him a warning look.

Still, Clint continued, taking down two other men. "Hey, you wear a fricking black uni-tard jumpsuit thing that you look good in! You're all 'Ooh, I'm a spy and I'm gonna kill you!' And I'm just..." Clint stopped looking down at his own outfit. "Okay, I actually don't look all that bad, but you're a girl, and when you take people down, they're thinking, 'Ow, she's hot!'" Suddenly he stopped, realizing his mistake.

But he regretted nothing.

"Did you just call me hot, Barton?" Natasha stared at him, green eyes flashing with disbelief, but arms and legs still sparring with one man who chose to wear hospital scrubs.

"Uh..." Clint gripped his bow tighter, mind spinning for an alternative. "Maybe?"

She turned away though, and knocked down the last person, leaving the facility littered with unconscious bodies. Clint winced when he tried to stand. The pain was excruciating, but nothing new. His com in his ear buzzed loudly with Fury's voice. "Hawkeye, Black Widow, did you two get the mother-" Hawkeye winced more as Fury swore, "-ing device?"

"Reaaallly not necessary to swear all the time," Clint grunted but he nodded anyway, as if Fury could see him. "Yup, Tasha has it."

"Black Widow." Natasha called, observing the two pieces of time capsule that was flat, metallic and circular. The edges were cut like puzzle pieces, and one side of her's and Clint's fit together perfectly.

"What?" He asked, kind of confused.

"It's Black Widow." She repeated, but continued playing with the puzzle pieces.

"Did you hear that Fury?" Clint moaned when he pushed himself up on a nearby desk. "Black Widow has the mother beeping device."

"Are you hurt?" Natasha turned, tucking the puzzle pieces into her pocket.

Clint shrugged, but more blood poured out of the wound, and he tried his best not to cry out. "Uh... If I say yes, would you kiss my wounds to make me feel better?"

She rolled her eyes at him. "I would add more wounds," She says, sprinting over to try to help him. "Fury, we need a medic."

"Not now, Black Widow," Was the flat reply.

Natasha's eyes turned fiery, and Clint felt himself want to pee his pants now that his teammate's eyes were suddenly ablaze. "No." She said firmly. "_Now_, Fury. I'm not going to ask twice."

"Jesus, you don't-"

"Please. Don't. Swear." Natasha growled. "Medic. Clint. Shot. Medic. Now."

There was a long silence, and then you could hear a car, or a truck, they couldn't see, pull up loudly.

"That'll be our ride." She says, taking his hand, an action that also made him want to pee his pants, "Let's go."

He walked with her, limping even though the pain was in his shoulder, and they reached the medic truck. He lay down on the stretcher, bleeding all over the place.

Gross, he thought, but for once, Clint was glad that he was shot, and not her.

Just when he was about to pass out from the pain, one of the nurses jabbed him with the drugs and pain and reality slowly started slipping away from his grip.

"Tasha," He called, barely aware of what he was saying.

She sat beside him, eyes unblinking. "Yes," She smoothed down his blond hair like a kind mother.

He stared at her pink smiling lips, so close. If he could just sit up... "Have you ever been kissed?" His words were just a sleepy mumble.

He needed to hold on just for a little longer before he passed out.

"Yes. It didn't mean anything, part of the Red Room training, so I wouldn't necsassarily count it, but if there was something for real, I'd probably punch the guy in the face for something like that, I have before." She comments, "I mean, it's kind of sexist if you think about it. All girls deserve intimacy and they like to be kissed, but I think I'd definitely like to make the first move, when I'm ready."

Clint really wanted to just sit up despite everything, let his lips brush hers, and then go unconscious so that if she did punch him, he wouldn't feel it, he would just wake up with a broken nose. All he could say was, "Okay." And as the drugs pulled him under, he managed a forced but weak smile.

Natasha sat, smiled back, but as soon as his eyes closed, her face softened in slight disappointment. "Oh Clint," She sighed, rubbing his golden hair, "I wasn't going to punch you."

* * *

**Thanks for reading.**

**Reviews are extremely appreciated, as I message and review the work of all those who review-If they have an account.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel, as I have said before, although I so absolutely wish I did!**

**I want to thank I Am Number 14, Doggielilly, ecrooked24, Clintasha101, Agent Equus, Guest and last but definitely not least, Floanator41 for being my reviewers!**

**Thank you to my followers: Clintasha101, Doggielilly, EleKat, Floanator41, I Am Number 14, IaMcHrIsSi, MusicalFan4, Precious93, The Icy Darkness, amutoxtakri, ecrooked24, kekavicky, purplestarr59, race2win and sibunagirl-0331**

**Love you guys! :D**

**Tony: You guys love me more, right...? That is why you followed right?**

**Clint: No, Sparky, they followed because they love moi! I'm Clint freaking hot Barton!**

**Steve: Why are you fighting about this? You know it's obviously me...**

**Bruce: Um...**

**Thor: But we are to thank the followers, both male and female alike, not to argue over this, correct?**

**Tony: Hey, hey guys, did you know Pepper's Iron Man?**

**All except Tony: What?**

**Tony: She's female. Fe equals Iron, and Male equals Man.**

**All except Tony: ...**

**Tony: And that is the sound of your argument becoming invalid.**

**Natasha: Wouldn't that mean I'm Iron Man too...?**

**Me: You do realize no one reads this, right?**

**Clint: So why do you spend your time writing this?**

**Tony: Why do you breathe, Legolas? You're still going to die.**

**Clint: ... Since when are you on her side?**

**Me: Since me, the author, decided he should be.**

**Clint: ...**

**Me: Again, the sound of your argument, invalid.**

* * *

So, after they had retrieved their two little pieces of time capsule, they returned to Stark Industries Tower, where they found out that the only person who was unsuccessful at retrieving his own time capsule was Tony himself. And that was because it turned out that Pepper had put it away because she figured out that Tony was probably going to lose it anyway.

"So," Steve had said, "How do you intend to fix something as big as this?"

Tony gave him a big smile. "Uh... Don't worry about it, Capsicle. I know what I'm doing."

"Oh, brilliant. In other words," Natasha translates, "Stark has absolutely no idea. You just love screwing stuff up don't you?"

"I..." Tony licked his lips quickly. "Rage monster and I will figure it out, right Brucie?" He elbows Bruce, earning a glare.

"Correction, you'll figure it out," Bruce said, pushing his elbow away. "I'm just assisting. Slightly. And don't call me Brucie."

"Then what's the point of having you around when JARVIS could do the same thing?" Tony complained.

This conversation pretty much lasted deep into the night, but Natasha wouldn't know for sure because she spent the rest of the night sitting with Clint in the med bay, just holding his hand until Fury told her to sleep.

Natasha wandered down the hall mindlessly, worrying idly. _Clint would be fine_, she assured herself, or at least tried to, _I hope_.

Black Widow stopped outside Clint's room, even though she knew he wasn't going to be in there for a while, it would probably give her a better sense of comfort if she could just...

With some hesitation, she opened the door to his room and lay down on his bed. Without another thought, she closed her eyes, and willed herself to sleep.

Next day...

_I, Clint Barton, am at great discomfort._ He told himself, _Because I, Clint Barton, am sick._

He had woken up with a striking headache that pounded into his fibers. _Whyyyy?_ He had complained, hitting his head with his pillow. Stomachaches and headaches were pretty much the least pain he had ever felt, because honestly, the guy rolls on glass one minute and gets shot the next. Headaches are nothing. He just doesn't like them.

Clint swung his legs over the side of med bay bed, got up, put a white t-shirt on, wincing while the shirt brushed over his newly bandaged wound and while just wearing boxers and his t-shirt, padded to the kitchen area, moaning all the while.

Tony and Pepper were both in the cooking area, Pepper rushing around and Tony trying to help her. Thor kept pouring himself more coffee, and chatting with Bruce, who was scrawling stuff down in his notebook. The only person Clint really noticed though, was Natasha, whom he found; beautiful as always.

She was sitting at the counter, slender fingers curled around a cup of coffee, steam still rolling off of it, eyes flashing through the newspaper. Everybody looked up when Clint entered, but returned to their morning activities, and the only person who kept their eyes lingering on Clint, was Natasha.

"Good morning, Legolas," Tony said, and as quickly as her eyes had fell onto him, Natasha's beautiful emerald eyes lifted off of Clint, to his disappointment. "How's your little booboo?"

Clint made a face. He felt like he could strangle Tony, but Natasha managed to keep his eyes distracted with the t-shirt she chose to wear. _His_ favorite t-shirt, evidently.

"So, are you going to ogle Rushman all day and strip her with your eyes, or are you going to eat?"

"I... What?!" Clint made a noise as if he just realized what Tony had said. Natasha turned her head up to catch Clint's face, green eyes flashing between awkwardness and what he read to be amusement. He could be wrong, but she actually looked as if she did believe he _was_ stripping her with his eyes. "I-I'm not! I swear!" He held his hands up, palms out and backed up into a vase, knocking it over. Luckily, he spun around in time and caught it, to Pepper's disbelief and relief.

"Relax," Natasha muttered, rolling her eyes, "If you act like that, someone might believe you actually were." She took a sip of her coffee, and awkwardness hung in the air like a veil. "Wait," Natasha conferred, "Were you actually..."

"NO!" Clint cried, throwing his hands up in the air, and wincing at the pain.

Tony laughed hideously, and Bruce, along with Thor and Pepper, remained oblivious to this conversation, which was probably the smartest thing to do.  
Clint growled. "I'm going to get you back, Tony. When you least expect it."

"I look forward to that," Tony grinned in that a-hole way of his.

Pepper stepped in with her perfect timing. "Pancakes." She said smoothly, putting down a plate of said food, with bacon on the side.

Clint didn't need anyone to tell him to dig right in, his stomach was rumbling louder than fireworks being blasted off a steam engine on the Fourth of July.

"So where's Steve?" Of all the questions reeling in his mind, along with;_ Nat, why are you wearing my favorite t-shirt, Tony, why were you born such an a-hole_ and_ Pepper, seriously, how can you put up with him, are you an android_ _or something magical_, he felt that the best first question of the day he should ask was _Where's Steve_, which was kind of a lamer reprise of where's Waldo, and probably less enjoyable.

"Sleeping," Pepper chides, and Clint is suddenly extremely bored.

"Never thought Captain America would sleep in." Clint mutters.

"He had a hard time yesterday receiving his time capsule bit, and also he had to stay up. Because of Tony, evidently."

Tony gives her a hurt look.

Leave it to Pepper to give everything a professional touch to it, making it all the more boring than it already was.

Clint shut his mind up by stuffing a piece of bacon into it. He decided to use a more subtle overtone coating on the question, rather than just asking straight out, therefore making it all the less mortifying than it could possibly be. "Nice shirt, Nat."

Natasha looked up from her newspaper, face reading; _What're you doing Clint, stop it!_, but instead said, "Thank you," As if not sensing his real message.  
Finally, he couldn't take it anymore, bit his tongue and announced, as if to no one in particular, "That's my_ favorite_ shirt of yours, Nat.

She flushes crimson almost immedietly, but regains her composure before anyone notices. Her eyes give him the message of; _I will annihilate you right now if you don't shut up._ But Clint pretends he doesn't get it. His headache hurts too much to pretend that he actually doesn't receive it, but Clint manages to grab a bottle of Tylenol and take the correct amount before continuing eating his food.

"Haha, everyone's laughing." Natasha said evenly, and drank her coffee, eyes returning to her newspaper.

"Am I missing something...?" Bruce asks slowly, watching the two continue to shoot weird looks at each other.

Clint's head still spun. "No, greenie, you aren't."

Natasha still didn't look up from her newspaper, even as she commented, "You're looking pale, Legolas."

"Why would you even call me that?" Clint mutters, putting his head in his hands, "You're turning into the next Tony... The new generation of Satan spawn."

"Ugh, don't even begin to have me thinking about that," Bruce added, shuddering, "Even the thought of another Tony makes me sick."

"Please, is not another friend Tony a good thing?" Thor asks, clearly confused, "The two would make wonderful aids in battles!"

After this conversation, the team decides not to mention another Tony, even if it was a metaphor, as they're worried Thor might find a 3-D printer and/or Loki to conjure up something as horrific as that.

Even Clint decides he might have nightmares about such a thing.

* * *

**So I hope you guys enjoyed it!**

**PM or review me, lovely readers!**

**Peace out, homies!**


	6. Chapter 6

**How are you guys doing?**

**Yeah, I haven't updated in a day, big surprise, and I'm sorry.**

**I RECENTLY HIT OVER 1,000 VIEWS THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! :D :D**

**You make me so happy.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel, but I do in my own dimension.**

**Tony: Hey, what about me?**

**Me: What about you?**

**Tony: You own me right?**

**Me: In my imagination, I guess.**

**Tony: WHAT'D'YA MEAN YOU GUESS?!**

**Me: Well... I'm kind of mentally dating Steve...**

**Tony: WHY NOT MEEEEEE?!**

**Steve: You see, she said it herself.**

**Me: You have Pepper, Thor has Jane, Clint is... Clint, Bruce is kind of... Unstable when it comes to relationships, and y'know, Steve doesn't really have anyone... And neither do I.**

**Tony: You just picked him 'cause he looks young, didn't you.**

**Me: I... No.**

**Tony: He's over a hundred years old...**

**My parents: Lyds are you listening to me I've been talking to you for over ten minutes Lyd look away from your laptop and listen did we raise this one right why is she talking to herself and typing down what we say who's Tony who's Steve is she dating someone Lyds we think you need help.**

* * *

"Tasha!" Clint called after her as she walked down the hallway to her room after breakfast, "Tasha, why are you avoiding me?"

She whirled around, eyebrow raised. "I am_ not_ avoiding you."

"You're wearing my favorite shirt," he comments, "And I just announced it to the whole Avengers team. Still avoiding me?"

She frowned and glared at him. "Fine, I'll give you your shirt back!" She snapped.

Clint was caught slightly off-guard, but a wry smile curled up his lips. "You're going to take it off here?"

"_No_!" She exclaimed, throwing her her hands in the air, "I never said that!"

He winced slightly as his headache returned, and he paled. Natasha's annoyance left her face, turning into a slight sign of concern. "Clint, are you sick?"

He didn't reply, but his hands were very warm.

She reached up and carefully placed the back of her hand on his forehead tenderly. Almost immediately, she jerked her hand back. "Clint, you're very hot."

"Why, thank you." He said, grinning despite the warmth in his body.

Natasha's ears felt warm and she flushed slightly red, a lighter tinge than her flaming red hair. "Whatever." Is all she says before her face fades lightly.

She leads him back to the kitchen, walking with her never fading grace and beauty that Clint has always admired. With that same grace, she opens the pantry and pulls out the bottle of Tylenol and hands it to Clint.

"So why are you wearing my shirt?" Clint asks curiously, even though he knows that it looks better on her than him.

_God, what am I doing?_ He thought, She's my partner, for crying out loud, I can't...

At this moment Natasha chooses to turn around and face him, tucking a wisp of her red hair out of her sparkling un-mistakeable emerald eyes. Clint's heart decides to climb up his throat and sit there, tying up his words.

Natasha smiled, almost sheepishly. "Well, last night when you were in the med bay, I..." She wrung her hands, looking at the floor, "Kind of went to your room to sleep, and I needed a change of shirt. I'll give it back to you soon."

"It's okay," He says, before he's knowing what he's doing, "Keep it. It looks better on you."

She smiles coyly. "Thank you darling," She purrs in a low, seductive voice.

Clint could feel himself unravel. If this was a mission and he was the target that she was sent to annihilate, the job would've already been done. She wasn't called the Black Widow without a reason.

"My my my, darling," A high voice calls from the kitchen door, with a fake southern accent, "You do flush a pretty scarlet."

Natasha smirks, and Clint hates who it is. Tony struts over, hand holding a rolled up copy of Hello! magazine along with one of Rolling Stone in his other hand. "Speaking of scarlet," He drops the Hello! magazine on the counter, facing Natasha. "Have either of you noticed that Scarlett Johansson looks a LOT like Natty over here?"

Natasha frowned again at him. "Don't call me Natty, Antonio, and also, Scarlett Johansson looks absolutely nothing like me!"

Clint picked up the magazine and observed the cover with Scarlett Johansson on it. He looked up at Natasha, head still spinning and trying to cope with the fact that he-had to admit it-had a crush on his long-time partner and best friend. Scarlett Johansson could pretty much be Natasha-if she had the red hair and was wearing the black catsuit. "She does kind of look like you, Tasha," He mutters, and earns a warning glance from her telling him to back down.

"And also, check out who's on the cover of this month's Rolling Stone magazine!" Tony grins, and slaps down the other rolled up magazine, which slowly unfurls.

"A conceited, vain, a-hole, playboy idiot?" Clint asks sarcastically.

"Or me," Tony shoots back, which makes Natasha have to stifle a small grin.

The magazine flattens out to show a photo of Tony posing, rather idiotically, in Clint's point of view, underneath the Rolling Stone logo with the words; Tony Stark tries to save the world? Beside him.

Clint really doesn't want to read about Tony from some woman's point of view, who's probably going to comment about his abs or his 'cute' goatee every other second, but Clint is curious to see why so many people are interested in some old guy rather than him.

Which is kind of more vain and hypocritical, now that he thinks about it.

Natasha snatches the magazine off the counter before Clint can, though, and starts flipping to the pages with the articles about him.

"'_Most eligible bachelor of the year, Tony Stark, is not only a billionaire and philanthropist, he's the famous superhero Iron Man, making him more desirable, which is a huge surprise, and almost surely a paradox._'" Natasha reads, eyes glancing up to shoot Tony her raised eyebrow. "'_According to most inside sources, he has had some interest in personal assistant Virginia 'Pepper' Potts, but most women do not want to believe a fact such as that. Recently, genius engineer superhero saved the world by carrying a missle into a portal, relieving Manhattan, and the world, of the worry of dying. As long as we know Tony Stark, and Iron Man, are around, we can sleep in peace knowing that he will always be here to save the day, and the world._'"

"Well that was a load of poop." Clint says snarkily, finally swallowing a pill, "We helped with the Tesseract thing!"

"Hang on," Natasha calls, "There's got to be something here..." She continued flipping through the magazine pages quickly, until she calls loudly; "Ah-hah! '_Mr. Stark is also one of the Avengers Intiative, a team made up of Thor, the other-worldly handsome Norse lightning god, the famous Steve Rogers slash Captain America, your typical 'Boy Scout' good guy that everyone loves, Bruce Banner a.k.a. the infamous Hulk, most woman like smart shy guy Banner rather than big green guy Hulk, but I could learn to appreciate both sides of him, Hawkeye, the almost adorable blond-haired blue-eyed bunny_-'"

"WHAT?!" Clint explodes, and Tony bursts into a fit of laughter. "I'm a _**BUNNY**_ and everyone else is hot and handsome and I-I-" Clint sputters a little, totally unbelieving to such a thing.

"Re-lax, Barton," Natasha makes relax sound like two words, which Clint finds himself finding more desiring, "I haven't read what it says about me yet, and if a woman wrote this, I'm guessing it's the usual jealous rampages about how I'm a horrible addition to this team and whatnot."

Clint made a face, something caught between disbelief, and a whale that just swallowed a school of fish, (Which is called guilt, Clint, get it straight) and gestured for her to continue.

"Uh..." Natasha looked back down at the magazine and continued reading, "Duhduhduhduhduhduhduh, blah blah blah, Tony Stark blah, wow Clint, this person talks about you a lot." She mouthed words too quickly for either of them to catch, and finally, her eyes lit up, and she continued reading aloud. "'_Then, there is the beautiful and famed Black Widow, a Russian spy who caught everyone-including mine's-attention, and not in a good way. Rumors have it that she is interested in one of the Avenger men, but whom could it be? Snarky assassin Hawkeye, shy genius Bruce Banner, typical good boy Captain America, or our worse nightmares possible..._'" Natasha pauses dramatically, staring at Tony, both eyebrows high. "'_Mr. Tony Stark._'"

Clint found himself envying the way that Natasha stared at Tony and how he winked at her jokingly, but forced himself to calm down.

Tony has Pepper, he told himself, trying to assure himself even though he wasn't sure of it, he-probably along with Nat-are trying to make me... Jealous. That's it, jealous.

"_'Luckily, most rumors are that she is more interested in Captain America than others._' Hah! Imagine that," Natasha grins, showing Clint the article. "Look at that... That's good."

Clint's not listening that closely though, he's jealous. So he's pale from his fever and green with envy at the same time-if it could be physically possible.

"What's this about someone more interested in me?" Steve asks, choosing to walk in at this moment.

Natasha grins slyly. "Dahling," She says with a southern belle accent, walking over to him, wavering in her step, and pretending extremely hard to be graceful-therefore being ungraceful-and saying, "How wahs your sleep?" Natasha caresses a clearly confused Steve's cheek, and bats her eyelashes.

Clint is trying not to be jealous, but Tony's laughter isn't the best thing you want to hear.

"Uh... What-Is something going on?" Steve looks at Clint, waiting for some hint, but Clint is too busy trying to ignore Natasha clinging onto his arm.

He grumbles something soft, and exits the room, in search of Bruce. Hopefully he's found a way to figure this whole mess out so he can get out of here.

* * *

**Thank you guys for reading!**

**I might not be posting immediately, but I will be posting soon!**

**Love you guys, and Steve!**

**you too tony.**

**and clint.**

**natasha, bruce, phil, fury, bruce, thor, maria, etc...**


	7. Chapter 7

**Wow, I'm getting 1,000+ views thanks to you guys!**

**I wan't to thank you for the support, thank you thank you thank you thank you.**

**I will write down all your names: Alex, Aidan, Alexandra, Alexis, Alyssa, fveovjs... Never mind, I can't. But you know I love you guys all the same.**

**Disclaimer: Despite many rumors, Lyd would like to deny all claims that she owns Marvel, because alas, she does not.**

**Tony: I ****_LOVE_**** you all! ;)**

**Pepper: Ahem.**

**Tony: (lowers voice to whisper) Its for the people Pepper, you know I love you more.**

**Pepper: Yeah. Sure, because nobody knows who you are how you are with women.**

**Tony: ...**

**I like to think that this chapter will keep you guys happy, but I need to make sure, so I'm going to be posting another one probably today! :D :D**

**Review and...**

**Tony: Peace out. (whispers again) Come on Pep, don't be mad... I'll buy you flowers...**

* * *

After many _Clint I've tried but Tony isn't helping so this isn't going to be fixed soon I'm afraid_'s from Bruce, Clint decided he should sleep his headache off.

He hated fevers for making everything a spinning blur at times, like when he was drunk. Only there's less pleasure, and if you do something bad, you can't say it's because you were so intoxicated you had no idea what you were doing and that you're sorry and whatnot.

He entered his room, where the covers where thrown apart, meaning Natasha had definitely been here. His cabinets were open.

The thought of a Natasha changing into his shirt made him shiver and appalled at himself._ I've lost it,_ he told himself. _I have so lost it._

Clint crawled into bed, wincing whenever his arm moved. Luckily, his curtains provided some light from outside, dark enough for him to sleep, but light enough so that he could see very well.

_Then again,_ he thought, _other people who work with Nat would probably think that she was hot. Like in a kick ass 'I'll kill you' kind of way._

He lay still, mind whirring.

_There, I said it. Natasha Romanoff is hot._

And with this strange, yet true, thought floating in his head, he drifted off to a dreamless sleep.

Clint woke at exactly 2:57 P.M. that same day, to people screaming and cheering.

He had rolled back over moaning about why they couldn't wait until 3:00 P.M., giving him three more minutes in bed, because to him, in three minutes he could have went back to sleep, had a dream, and then woke again.

But_ noooo_, all the Avengers, led by Thor, had cheered, stormed into his room, circled around his bed as if it were the Sunday parade, and left again, blowing trumpets and-whoop de doo-noise makers.

One thought was not going to leave Clint's head as he sat up._ I'mgoingtokillTony. I'mgoingtokillTony._

Luckily, one person was kind enough as to; a) bring him Tylenol, b) and a cup of water, c) help him get out of his bed which he was having a hard time doing so himself for some reason, and d) explain to him what the **heck** was going on and where Tony was.

That person was Maria Hill.

After a round of_ Thank you Maria_'s and a couple of words of intense catching up even though they practically saw each other every day, Clint went to go find Tony.

And murder him. Not literally, although that would be nice. He could just secretly hit him in the head with an arrow, lug his body and throw it off of the tower, clean up all his fingerprints, ask Natasha to override JARVIS's security video feed and destroy it, and the group would thank him for it.

_Ugh_, Clint rubbed his head, _this fever's making me murderous._

His abnormally warm feet padded down the cool floors to Tony's workshop. His sickness was making him slower than he could usually go, and less alert for that matter, but nonetheless, he managed to fumble down the steps into the workshop.

He was met by a very... Interesting sight the moment he got in.

Pepper and Tony were on the battered couch, with her on top of him, kind of straddling him in an odd way, her hands on his chest and Tony was lying back on the couch.

Clint gave a small scream, slapped his hands over his eyes and speed-walked backwards out the room very quickly. "Not on the couch, guys! What if we have to sit on that?" He exclaimed.

"Wha-Wait, Clint!" Pepper called to Clint, who was backing up the stairs, eyes still covered. "I wasn't-Clint, wait!" She had jumped off Tony and was practically running to catch up with him.

At the last few steps and hearing Pepper coming after him, Clint dropped his hands off his eyes, turned and bolted up the steps, causing high-heeled Pepper to drop behind.

He kept running, but as he turned to look behind him, and then turned forward again, he saw black, blue, brown and then the floor. Clint sat up very slowly, blinking the dots out of his vision. In front of him sat a very irritated looking Maria.

"Sorry, Maria." He mutters, and puts his hands back to push him up. Instead of reaching the floor, like his left hand, his right hand hits an open book sitting beside him. Carefully, he picks it up, helps himself up, and then helps Maria up, who's still sitting on the floor looking kind of dumbstruck.

He hands her the book, and their hands brush briefly.

"Sorry," She murmurs softly, looking up at him, eyes glistening. "I should have watched where I was going."

Clint says nothing at first, smiles, and finally asks, "Do you know where the rest of the team are?"

Maria shrugs, points towards the living room and smiles back. She reaches into her pocket and hands him a small tube of Polysporin. "Good luck," She whispers, pats him on the back and leaves.

"Wait, Maria, why would I need-?" Clint watches her continue to walk down the hallway, and he glances back down to the tube of Polysporin._ Knowing Maria..._

Clint was on his guard as he approached the closed living room door. He could hear faint talking and then, he made out Thor's definite booming; "I am taking a liking to the pink one, she is most jubilant!"

He opened the door almost immediately, and was greeted with the sight of; a) Bruce in full transformation as the Hulk, b) Steve sitting on the couch, c) Thor sitting very close to the television, d) Natasha banging her head against the window, e) My Little Pony on the television, or f) all of the above.

If you guessed all of the above, then unfortunately, you are correct. Hulk was sitting on the couch smiling, which was scary odd, bouncing up and down when the pony on the screen was doing so, causing the room to shake slightly in such a frenzy until Steve calmed him down again. Thor was sitting right in front of the television, cross-legged and grinning. Natasha kept banging her head against the window.

She was on the other side of the television, which Clint thought to be no problem, so he walked calmly _in front_ of the screen, which resulted in Thor pushing him roughly out-of-the-way.

Clint was glad he still had the tube of Polysporin.

"Nat, you okay...?" He asked as she continued hitting her head roughly against the glass.

"I. CAN'T. TAKE. IT. ANYMORE." Natasha moaned, pulling at her hair. "Bruce was doing some research for the time thing but Tony wasn't helping or whatever and then Tony screwed something up big time like always and Bruce got frustrated and they kind of yelled a lot and swore and then Bruce turned into the Hulk and he still hasn't calmed down so Fury got Steve Thor and I to look after him until he calmed down so we took him up here to watch television and we turned the thing on but My Little Pony was playing so they started watching that and now..." She inhaled more air and then let out a long slow exhale. "I. Need. Help." She finally said in her normal tone.

"What do you need me to do?" He asks helpfully, and her face lights up.

Her eyes go hollow and fill with awe instead. "You're a life saver." She grins, and throws her arms around him in a brief hug. As Natasha squishes him, Clint's so happy he dies a little inside. When she releases him, she informs him, "Watch them watch My Little Pony. It's harder than it sounds and looks." Natasha leaves Clint to it, rubbing her temples while exiting the room.

"It can't be that hard..." Clint mutters to himself, watching Hulk clap his hands together loudly and Steve stop him.

Thor rips his head away from the television to Clint long enough to ask; "They are called 'My Little Pony' yet roam free, so to whom do they belong?"

Clint bit his lip. "Maaaybe I spoke to soon." He muttered under his breath.

* * *

**Well there you have it folks!**

**Until next time, peace out homies!**

**Show me you care. Review, and achoo... Bless you.**


	8. Chapter 8

**OMG GUYS I AM SO SORRY I HAVEN'T POSTED...**

**I FEEL BAD, BUT MY INTERNET WAS DOWN AND ARGHHHH!**

**Forgive me. :(**

**Disclaimer: Clint, would you like to do the honors? Clint: SHE DOESN'T OWN MARVEL! ARGGHHH, JUST GET IT THROUGH YOUR THICK SKULLS, YOU STUPID LITTLE-**

**Natasha: Okay, thank you, that's good enough Clint.**

* * *

On a happier note, Bruce had suddenly changed back to himself, but it wasn't until pretty much after the show ended and Clint went to put more on that he noticed Bruce smiling on the couch.

"Bruce?!" Clint exclaimed, and Bruce smiled sheepishly. "When did you change back?"

"Halfway through the episode..." Bruce said quietly, and Clint had to roll his eyes.

He glanced at the screen, with the bright colored horses talking and singing, and had to turn away because he could feel his own brain melting. "How can you watch that? What's so enjoyable about... _That_?" Clint gestured to the screen.

"It calms me down." Bruce answered, "It's a good show!" He proclaims afterwards, and Clint takes this time to quickly leave.

Halfway on his search to find Natasha, said spy bumped into him.

Without even a "Hey Clint" Natasha started talking.

Her face was very alarmed, and she started pacing back and forth in the space in front of him. "Bad news, very bad news."

"Nat, is something wrong?" He asked, holding her elbow to slow her down.

Her face kept flickering between scared and alarmed. "Tony and I just found out something bad about the time capsules."

Clint felt a cold sweat break out. Are we going to die? _No, it can't be. I haven't told Natasha yet._

He tried to get emotionally-ready to receive the news.

"The time capsule, it's turning backwards." She whispers. "We're not aging, we're getting younger as we speak. Our minds, vocabularies, thoughts, everything that makes us the age we are, we're losing it." Natasha looked horrified, pacing around again. "It's only a matter of time until our bodies catch up to the age our minds are deteriorating at, and we'll resemble little kids again."

He was still alarmed at this, but there wasn't exactly anything horrible about it. They'd turn into kids, babies, and then what? Disappear out of existence? Okay never mind. That _would_ be bad.

"So we're going to turn into babies?" Clint asked, trying to make sure he and Natasha were on the same page.

She shook her head. "I don't know. Tony says that he might be able to stop the process before we turn into little babies, but we'll still be children." Natasha's voice, at this point, was nearing frustration.

"What's so bad about being children?" He asked, with a certain flamboyance she couldn't quite understand, "We'll grow up again, and be fine, correct?"

"No, it won't be fine." She whispers, tone falling off the edge of hopeful. "There are many theories about fooling around with time travel. We could near our normal ages again and then explode!" Natasha clutches her head. "Or we could be transported back to where we were at that age, only it would be this year and time and nothing would be the same. Another theory would equal me having to go back to the Red Room, and yes, we would probably still meet in the future, but I am_ not_ looking forward to going through puberty again."

Clint couldn't see what was all so bad about the last theory. It was worth it if Natasha ended looking as beautiful as she did now. If they did have to live through everything they'd gone through before, Clint could correct his mistakes. Everything he'd done wrong in the past could be fixed. All those innocent people who died, his parents... And Coulson.

But if he saved all those people, would his future stay the same or change? Would he still meet the Avengers? Would he still be with Natasha? Would he be dead or alive? Would Coulson still be here?

He felt on the verge of crying at the thought and started shaking really hard. Coulson... Forcing back the tears, he said, voice shaky, "That explains why they were watching My Little Pony! And not because you know... They actually enjoyed it, or whatever."

"Yeah, about that..." Natasha circled her fingers together. "I'm sorry for just kind of... Leaving you with them. I was kind of stressed out about it."

Clint holds his hand up and just smiles. "Yeah, that was cruel. Buuuut, you can always make it up to me."

"I didn't ask." She mutters, foreshadowing what's coming.

"Anyway," Clint continues after a brief eye roll, "You could buy dinner, or help me in a prank on Tony," He noticed that she started toning out, eyes glazing over, at this moment. "Or you could admit if you actually have a crush of Stevie Wonder boy."

Clint said the last one out of curiosity, and also because his own brain was pushing for answers. Something hot was rising up inside of him as she looked up, green eyes pulled big. _Please say no, please say no..._

She suddenly snapped back into reality, punched him hard in the gut, causing him to fall into the wall, and said, "That was the _worst_ thing you could have said just then."

He held his stomach. "I thought you weren't listening." He made a grunt. "Just testing you."

Natasha rolled her eyes. "I've known you forever. You think you can lie to me, Clint?"

Clint winced, as his brain screamed at him. "Love you too, Nat."

She didn't reply, made an odd face, nodded, and left him leaning against the wall.

He stood there for a while longer, clutching his stomach, and mind spinning from what just happened. _Did I just tell her..._

_I just told her I love her... And I wasn't even sure of why. I just felt like I should have told her, for some strange reason. She just kind of nodded and left me in the hallway... Was that her way of telling me she felt the same? Probably not._

Wow, she can punch hard, that's for sure.

And the fever definitely wasn't helping him.

Clint closed his eyes and sank down onto the ground, pulling his knees up to his chest. _I'm over thinking this. She doesn't like me. It was just me joking, yeah, that's it._

Suddenly Natasha's head popped back into Clint's view, smiling. She walked over calmly and slowly. Without a word, she out-stretched her hand to him, helping him up. As she pulled him up, he dusted his pants off.

Wordlessly still, she held his head up with her hand, holding his jaw gently, and kissed him lightly and quickly on the lips, so quick that he could barely register what was happening before it was over. They had touched his, and been lifted off. Cocking her head sideways, Natasha continued smiling as she said, "Love you more." She had said it in a flamboyance he couldn't quite understand, but he loved it, and he didn't care.

Then she turned around, leaving Clint standing by himself in the hallway, replaying the kiss over and over in his head. As she left the room, she turned her head around one last time, flashed him a grin, and left.

Clint knew she smiled at her as she gave him one last look, but her hair had swung in her hair, obscuring her beautiful features and blurring them out of view. He ran his fingers over his lips.

_Had what had happened... Just happened? Maybe he should go back to sleep, sleep it off, because after all, it could be a dream._

The best damn dream that ever happened to him.

In his own private little surveillence room that few people knew he had, Tony grinned slyly, asking JARVIS to replay the video over and over, saving all the footage.

"Ahh, young love," He mutters, tipping his glass of scotch to his lips, glass clinking faintly.

"You're never going to let them forget this, are you?" The AI asked in his cool British voice.

"Never," Tony replied, pouring more scotch. It was hard to see in this dim light, but Tony enjoyed it dark in the room because it was 'cool as hell'. "I've already put this in a wedding speech, if Legolas does, you know, propose, their kid's graduations, their funerals, everything."

"Sir, may I just say that you are a very cruel human being."

"What can I say? It's one of the better sides to me."

* * *

**Hoped you enjoy it! **

**Review mah homies.**

**Fury: You heard the lady, my mother-**

**Me: Ahem.**

**Fury: ... (monotoned) My lovely readers. Thank you so much. Keep reading our adventures as we rule over humanity!**

**Me: Ahem!**

**Fury: (robot voiced and reading from a script) Keep reading our adventures as we take the reins of adventure, and friendship. WHAT IS THIS, MY LITTLE PONY?**

**Me: Forget this. I give up. -_- **

_**I knew I should have got the Justice League to do this.**_


	9. Chapter 9

**HEY GUYS! How are you?**

**I'm sorry I haven't posted quite AS much.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Marvel, that's the end of the story.**

**Clint: Don't worry, tomorrow, you can see more of MOI!**

**Tony: I think they want to see me...**

**Clint: Uh, the story kind of revolves around me and Nat, so... :/**

**Tony: (rolls his eyes)**

**Clint: SUCKER!**

* * *

Clint practically _floated_ to his room, that's how happy he was.

He knew it was probably just something small, but his brain couldn't help but blow it out of proportion. Even though he could barely remember what had just happened, he enjoyed the thought of that kiss.

He slowly lay down onto his bed, ignoring the pain in his shoulder once again. Yes, his headache had returned, and yes, he was still mad that the Avengers for waking him up, and triple yes, he was worried and kind of scared-though he wouldn't admit it out loud-of the the time capsule suddenly speeding up and rendering them all kids.

With this dizzying feeling digging deep down into his bones-either from the fever or the kiss and the thought of the time capsule, Clint went to sleep, without Tylenol, with the kiss as his painkiller. He's just needed a break from all this stress.

Clint woke up in the middle of the night, the nightmare of a dying Coulson, and his blood on Clint's hands bubbling in his mind. As soon as he sat up, a gentle soft moaning filled his ears. He turned to look at the source, which was a stirring Natasha lying beside him.

The two had shared beds before, and slept beside each other, but it didn't mean anything at all. It was just usually a shortage of beds where ever they were at the time, or they needed _some_ warmth. And no, it wasn't awkward, because they are almost like family.

_Were_ almost like family. But now for Clint, there was a_ huge_ amount of sexual tension hovering heavily in the air like a veil. He watched her eyes slowly open as he lay back down beside her.

"Sorry," He whispers gently, "I had a nightmare."

"It's alright," She answers back, giving him a weary smile. "Sorry I'm... Here, with no reason."

Clint impulsively reached his hand over and tucked a curl of red hair back behind Natasha's ear, wondering if what he just did was normal._ Oh my god, please don't hit me._

_He looks really tired,_ Natasha inquired, _like extremely tired. More tired than usual. He looks really worn out._

The two held each other's gaze for a long time, like they did when the Avenger's were chatting in the hallway just the day before.

"Well, good night." Clint said quickly, and turned over onto his other side so that his back faced Natasha.

She rolled her eyes tiredly, and also half-heartedly. She was too exhausted to snort and fire back a remark. "Good night, Clint." And she turned over so that her back faced his.

Both were thinking the same thing as they drifted off to sleep.

_I wonder if they're feeling just as awkward as me right now._

Clint slept until late noon. He woke up because someone pulled his covers off and he was exposed to the cold air of the room. As soon as he sat up, he glanced at his alarm clock at his bed.

And then he cursed loudly, realizing that it was very late in the afternoon, and that Natasha had turned off his alarm clock. At first he felt like he should be extremely mad at her, but then he did a double take. Natasha did it for his own good, so he would probably have to thank her after.

As he swung his feet over the side of his bed, he looked for his blankets warily. That's about when he saw the two five-year-olds holding onto his covers and giggling loudly.

_Oh no_, he mouthed to himself.

A little Tony and little Thor continued giggling, clutching Clint's blankets in their chubby fingers.

_Crap._

Clint shot up off of his bed, running for the two five-year-olds, but clearly, Thor could still fly. Little Thor shot up into the air, dangling Clint's blankets over his head. Quickly, Clint climbed onto his desk, leapt off, and snatched Thor out of the air, pulling his blankets out of mini-Asgardian god of thunder's hand. Clint threw his blankets back onto his bed, held Thor who was giggling into his neck and started chasing after slow, waddling Tony. He caught Tony, and now carried the two mini-Avengers in his arms.

The little Avengers continued giggling into his chest, even as he walked out into the kitchen, where a tired looking Pepper, a smiling Maria, a bored looking Darcy-who was somehow friends with Thor or something, Clint wasn't sure-an unhappy Nick Fury, and a distressed-trying to keep a hold on a squirming little Hulk-Natasha sat.

Clint put the little Tony and Thor down, letting them run over to also little Steve, who was coloring in a picture of his adult self.

Which is really cute, in retrospect.

"What the hell happened?!" Clint demanded, sitting down across from Natasha, right beside Nick.

Pepper dug her hands into her disheveled bun. "The Avengers are all kids except for you two, luckily. End of story."

"Sorry, I let you sleep in," Natasha said, not sounding sorry at all, more strained as little Hulk gave her one last punch in the jaw before settling down, "You looked like you needed it."

He just smiled, and took her clammy hand gently, holding it with his warm hands. "Thank you."

Fury made a face, raising an eyebrow, and frowning as well. He turned and motioned for little Tony-who was glancing expectantly at the table-to come join them. The toddler-ized alter-ego of Iron Man ran over to them, and jumped into Pepper's lap, who was too tired to object.

"So," little Tony proclaimed very professionally, in his high-pitched voice, "I fixed the time box so that we are going to be kids, and not just disappear."  
His vocabulary had slightly degraded, but the way he was leaning his head back into Pepper's chest with a smug grin on his look meant that he was still the same old Tony on the inside.

"Great. How do we fix it?" Clint got straight to the point, and Natasha's hand stiffened in his.

The Hulk changed back into Bruce, who fidgeted in his spot until he found a position he was comfortable with in Natasha's lap. He then stayed still, blinking slowly as he answered Clint's rude question.

"It'th quite thimple." Bruce said, and Clint's eyes widened.

"A lisp?" He felt like laughing, slapping a hand up to stifle the loud laugh that was currently climbing up his throat.

Bruce rolled his little eyes dramatically. "Yeth, I have a lithp. Get over it. Anyway, ath I wath thaying, the time box thimply needth it'th counter-act button."

"Don't we have that?" Maria's face was now sullen, the smile wiped out of existence. You couldn't even tell she was smiling just the moment before.

"Unfowtunately," Bruce eyed Tony, who sunk deeper into Pepper's chest sheepishly. "Thomeone loth it in hith workthop or where ever elthe he liketh to throw hith thuff around."

For a long while, no one spoke.

Darcy's elbow was on the table, her hand pressed against her cheek, supporting her head. She looked _very_ bored, and she was the only one who didn't fit in in this picture. "It's so cruel how there's an S in lisp." She said at last, and Clint had to laugh. Just a little.

"Don't you guyth get it?!" Bruce exploded, throwing his little arms in the air, "Thith ithn't a joke!"

Darcy sat still, until Fury kind of arched his head around Natasha to look at her. "Ms. Lewis. What are you still doing here?" Fury asked calmly, and strangely enough, without swearing.

"Oh yeah!" Darcy sat up straight. "Gotta go, gotta get this to Jane, who's probably been wondering where the hell I am right now." She waves a rolled up scroll of paper. "See you little Avengers, and... Big Avengers." With that Darcy picks up her jacket off the back of her chair and leaves.

Tony picks the sesame seeds off Pepper's bagel and takes a bite out of it. "Legolas and Natty, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G." He stops, thinking about the rest of the song.

At this moment, Natasha and Clint look at each other's hands, which are still together. They quickly release at the same time, and wipe their hands on their pants.

Pepper puts Tony down onto the floor, making him pout. "Don't try to hide it!" Tony calls, voice floating in the air since he's too short to show up over the top of the table, "I have a video clip of that!"

"Hang on..." Natasha looks at her big hands next to Bruce's. "How are Clint and I still adults, while all the other Avengers are kids?"

"Brucie and I have no idea!" Tony yells, "We think it might have something to do with the fact that both of yours are stuck together!"

Natasha's eyes fill with confusion, and meet Clint's amused fill ones. "They're stuck?" She asks slowly, tucking a stray curl of red hair behind her ear, therefore pulling it away from her green eyes, "Like, you can't pry them apart?"

"We tried evewything," Bruce's voice was small, but strained and tired, making it sound like an old. "Latherth, Tony'th roboth. It juth can't come apart."

"You two are souuuul mates!" Tony chirped, but Clint isn't listening.

There's a sudden bang, probably Fury falling out of his chair because everybody has dropped to the ground, and then everything gets deafning. The kids scream, and Maria dives for them.

_What's happening?_

His mind is spinning. His thoughts are becoming squished together, and then pulled apart. The stress of this is just...

_Why? Why are his and Natasha's pieces supposed to be together? What was so special about their relationship?_

FREEZE FRAME.

Clint remembered that when he was very little, he used to have dance off's with his brother. They would dance and dance very silly, and then their dad or mom would love to come, and pause their music, and the two would go into a freeze frame moment, not moving.

Eventually, and it was usually Clint's little brother Barney, one of them fall down laughing and be tickled by the other. The tickler would scream, in succesion; "Get down Mr. President!"

And the tickled would laugh.

END OF FREEZE FRAME.

His head kept spinning, flying around the room. He felt like throwing up, and he didn't know why. His whole body was tingling, as he fell off his chair, as if he was being tickled, but there was little pleasure in the sudden numbness.

And then black pulled at the corners of his mind, and then he saw was Natasha's mouth moving frantically, but no words pouring out.

Natasha crawled over to freshly-shot Clint, as Fury starts taking down the attacker. She presses his chest where a hole the size of a dime from the bullet has entered, just above his heart. She felt her throat ripping.

_No, I can't cry_. She bites her lip, and continues pressing his chest. More gunshots in the air ring, but these don't effect her or Clint. _Don't die on me, Clint, you are not dying on me._

Clint stared at Natasha's glistening green eyes. He still didn't understand what Fury was yelling, or why Nat kept pressing his chest and then turning around and yelling.

The last thing he saw before everything faded away was Natasha's glistening green eyes, and he fell into the abyss of darkness.

* * *

**In case it wasn't clear, Clint got shot. **

**Crap.**


	10. Chapter 10

**THIS IS REALLY SHORT. IT'S RUSHED. I APOLOGIZE.**

**THANK YOU, YOU HAVE HELPED ME REACH OVER ****_2000_**** VIEWS, AND THAT IS HUGE!**

**MIND BLOWING**

**LOVE YOU!**

* * *

Tick... Tick... Tick... Natasha sat on the waiting couch waiting nervously, staring at the clock, growing more scared each moment. She had watched the second hand make a full trip for what seemed like a million times. She was wiggling his left leg uncontrollably and she kept wringing her hands and fingers, not even aware she was doing it. It had been five hours since it happened. Five crucially long hours. Tick... Tick... Tick...

There was not much to think about, it had all happened so fast. One moment Clint was fine, just chatting to them, and the next moment gunshots were being fired through the air, and there was a bullet through his chest, right above his heart. Luckily, it wasn't on his heart, otherwise...

She stopped herself from thinking of what might have happened had he been sitting differently. Natasha bit her lip, and closed her eyes, forcing herself to imagine being away from here. She hated hospitals.

She remembered how Nick had grabbed his guns and shot the intruder, who had gotten a lucky shot from hanging on the window, but he... Or she, was already gone. They could only hope that whoever did this got a wound.

Tick... Tick... Tick... Fury paced back and forth, trying to figure out where it all went wrong. Maria had to force_ herself_ not to cry. Pepper's hand had shot straight to her mouth, and she tried to blink the tears out of her eyes, as she comforted the kids. They two women agreed to take the little Avengers, so Natasha and Fury were to only two in the waiting room. Five hours. Tick... Tick... Tick...

The door to the waiting room slowly opened and a doctor stepped through. He was an older man, an experienced doctor. He had sky blue eyes that told you everyday he saw patients in a life or death situation. Slowly he let his face mask slip off. He had a salt and pepper mustache and the same hair peeking out from his head covering.

When the two saw him, the air changed from nervous to anxious and the room was filled with a sliver of hope and a feeling of dread. He gave the two a kind smile and walked over to them.

"Mr. Fury, and Ms. Rushman, I assume," He started and Natasha's tongue darted out nervously to wet her chapped lips.

Rushman. An alias last name, because they couldn't go marching in proclaiming that she was Black Widow. She looked up and nodded at the doctor at last.  
"I'm Dr. Williams," He said, shaking Fury's hand. Natasha stayed still, and turned her head, avoiding his hand. All she could think about was Clint.

Fury didn't mention this, and he ignored Natasha's anti-social behaviour. "Is Clint alright?" He asked, with a small scowl.

"He's stable, but he's in critical condition." The doctor answered.

Natasha turned to look at the doctor. Her mouth was extremely dry, and in the mirror behind the doctor, she saw herself, cheekbones slightly sunken in, black bags under her eyes. But she ignored this, and asked, "So he's alive?" She made the end sound more like a statement than a question, because she didn't_ want_ it to be a question.

"For now, yes," Dr. William's answered. "The bullet flew straight through, grazing his heart. He's a strong one, otherwise he might not have made it to the hospital. We tried to fix him up the best we could, but he did lose quite a lot of blood."

Natasha winced and quickly turned away. She chewed her lip furiously, blood leaking out. _Clint can't die,_ she scolded herself, _he's Clint! If he dies..._ Again, she forced herself to stop thinking.

"Can we see him?" Fury asked quietly and slowly without swearing.

"He's just coming out of surgery, but I'll bring you to his room, and you can wait for him there." The doctor answered.

The Avengers-mostly Tony-arranged for their unlimited visting hours and private room as soon as Clint had gotten there. Natasha didn't even want to be in this hopsital, and she wondered why they couldn't just help him in the Helicarrier or whatnot, but SHIELD had claimed it was beyond their doctor's powers. Natasha had yelled_ You guys are doctors, how the hell can these guys help them, but you can't!_ and Fury had to calm her from attacking them.

Natasha and Fury waited in silence, until Clint was wheeled in. A bunch of tubes were sticking in and out of them; and he couldn't even breathe on his own, a big plastic tube was in his mouth doing it for him. This disturbed Natasha extremely. This did not look like her Clint.

"Well I'm not gonna say he's completely outta the woods yet," Fury muttered, "But this little bitch is a strong one, and he'll be okay." He put a hand on Natasha's shoulder gently.

"Please don't call him that," She said, not angrily, but quietly. "And please don't say it like you're doubting it. Clint will be fine. He won't die. He will live. And he will beat up Tony for creating that time capsule."

Fury almost chuckled. Almost. He scowled again, and started backing out of the room. "You stay here. I gotta meet with the rest of SHIELD. See how Tony and Bruce are intending on fixing the time capsule."

"Yeah. You do that," Natasha replied bitterly, as Fury left. She pulled out a chair, say down beside him, and picked up his hand from where it was lying beside him. She held Clint's hand to her cheek, and felt that his hand was as cool as marble.

Closing her eyes, she cried silently to herself, a foreign action she's never done, and she didn't even realize that she had fallen asleep.

Waking up the next morning was impossibly devastating and exhausting for Natasha. She couldn't believe she'd slept through all that in the first place.  
Nobody could get her to eat.

Maria came to visit her, bringing coffee and a couple of sandwiches, but Natasha didn't move at all, sitting absolutely still.

"Well, it's just like everyday, huh?" Maria said, glancing around the empty room, "You in a place full of groaning and hurt people." Maria was only trying to make her feel better with a small joke, but Natasha didn't have the stomach, or heart, to laugh.

"Hah." Natasha muttered, clutching the cup of coffee so tight that the styrofoam started screeching.

"The kids are doing fine," Maria reported, "Bruce and Tony aren't exactly as smart as they used to be, but they're working on it."

"Good." Natasha says, closing her eyes, looking almost peaceful for a second.

Maria forced a wary smile onto her face. "Clint will be fine, he's Clint. The guy can handle everything!"

Natasha could only grunt in response. Maria left shortly afterwards, due to lack of conversation starters.

* * *

**More coming soon, and this time, I ****_promise._**

**LOVE YOU!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey guys. I am a bad person. A very very bad person. I am sorry for not uploading.**

**But between balancing school, tutoring, my activities, homework-because 7 hours of school clearly isn't enough for the teachers-how much time do you think that leaves me for stuff I want to do? **

**None. But, I digress, and now, hear I am! **

**I love you fellow reviewers! Watching cartoons and movies and reading comics so I can write the characters better.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel, just my imagination.**

**Clint: HEY GUYS, I'M BACK! READ BELOW SO YOU CAN SEE-**

**Natasha: *clamps hand over his mouth* Yeah... He's really chatty. I'm not going to let him spoil the story.**

**Clint: MMPH MMMM MMHPH MPH MMM!**

**Tony: Yep, that's right, Clint, everyone loves me. **

**Clint: MMMPH MMM MMM MMM MPHHH!**

**Tony: Why, of course you can have my autograph! Thanks for asking politely.**

**Clint: MMMMM MMMM MMMM MMPH MHP!**

**Natasha: Watch your language Clint.**

* * *

Tony called once. "Hey Spidey, how you holding up?"

"Please. Have some respect for your elders," Natasha replied, "You're no better as a child either."

There was a long silence, and then Pepper's faint voice calling for Tony to give her back her phone. "I can't be on for much longer," Tony whispers into the phone, as if he's hiding, "How's Katniss?"

Natasha sighs and bites her lip. "I guess he'll be..." She choked back tears. "Okay."

Then there was a squeal, a hideous crackle, a deafning beep, and then Pepper, sounding breathless and Tony screaming in the background, "Sorry, who is this?"

Natasha stayed silent, letting the line fill with only breathing. "Natasha." She said at last, and Pepper gasped slightly.

"Oh, sorry about that, the kids ambushed me so Tony could take my phone," Pepper explains. "How are you and..." She paused for a long time, "Clint," She said hesitantly, "Doing?"

Natasha glanced at Clint absentmindedly, and swallowed hard.

She could hear Pepper taking small breaths. "Well uh... Sorry, I've got to go, Tony's pulling my hair, and Thor-Ow! Bruce-I mean Hulk, no hitting!"

Black Widow turned off the phone very hesitantly, and shut her eyes tightly._ Please let Clint okay._ She held his hand, gave it a gentle squeeze and leaned back into her chair, wishing herself away from here, entering a memory.

_"Don't let go. Promise me."_

_"Clint, calm down, this isn't the Titanic."_

_He shrugged, or tried to equivalent of shrugging, which is hard to do when you're dangling off the top of the Eiffel Tower. Their weapons and gadgets had been taken away, and they had never accounted for the fact that this mission in Paris, the city of loooove-as Clint had said, could result in the two hanging off the edge of the Eiffel Tower. Clint was gripping onto the metal rungs so tightly that his hand dug into the rusty nails. Natasha was holding onto his other hand, and both of them were just swinging in the wind._

_"I'm going to try to swing in so my feet can touch the bars," Clint informed her, but she rolled her eyes._

_"Now you think of it?" She snorted, but he ignored her and tried to push his feet in. It was no use, the closest bar he could stand on would mean pretty much a ten-foot drop._

_He looked down at how far away the bar was. "How did we end up here in the first place?" Clint whined, looking at the skyline away from him._

_"Well someone," Natasha shot him a glare, "Lost all our weapons to the target, efficently lost the target, got led into a trap, and then I had to come clean up your mess."_

_"Well, you're not doing a very good job now, are you?"_

_"Shut up, Legolas. You got us into this mess, now you're going to get us out of it."_

_"Alright." And then Clint, without any signs of warning, released his grip on the bar, dropping both of them down onto the bar below him. This time, both of them managed to grab it with their hands, standing on top of the thick bar, so they were finally safe. The Paris skyline was really beautiful from this height, so very breathtaking. The wind whipped Natasha's red hair around her beautiful features, exaggerating them greatly. Clint watched her stare into the skyline._

_"It's really quite beautiful, isn't it?" She asked, squinting slightly._

_"I've seen more beautiful," He replied absentmindedly, also staring at the night skyline._

_She'd rolled her eyes at this comment, but Clint would look at her again, both of them sitting, the moon illuminating her features._

_"Afraid of heights, Barton?" Natasha asked suddenly, making his eyes snap away._

_He looked down, and where as other people would sweat at heights, he laughed. "No."_

_"Then close your mouth and don't ogle me." She teased, and he flushed red, looking away, hoping that the moon would hide his crimson cheeks. Suddenly Natasha stood up, balancing on the bar, looked down and held up her arms, sandwiching her ears. She looked like a precision diver._

_"What are you-" Clint asked, but she jumped off the tower, flipped and then her arms to her side as she dived down head first. "NAT!"_

_There was a loud crack suddenly, and Clint cringed, staring down. "NAT! NAT, ARE YOU OKAY?"_

_"Hurry up, slowpoke!" He heard her voice carry up, over the wind. He relaxed the tension in his shoulders, and hesitantly, leaped off the tower._

Natasha kept her eyes closed, until she felt a gentle squeeze on her hand. Snapping her eyes wide open, she saw Clint trying to smile, resulting in a grimace, at her.

"Clint!" She exclaimed, face splitting into a surprised grin. He tried to sit up, but winced at the pain. She gently pushed him back down. "Don't. You'll tear your stitches."

"Ugh," He groaned, as she put a pillow behind his head to prop him slightly upright. "This is the second time I've been shot."

"It's not fun."

"Tell me about it. So how long was I out?" Clint sounded annoyed, like he missed a lot of stuff.

"Just a day," Natasha answered, shrugging slightly. "You didn't miss a lot."

"Oh, good." His face had lit up again. "I was just worried that, you know, something big happened and-Have you been crying, Nat?"

She quickly turned away. Yes, her eyes might have been bloodshot, but she hadn't looked in a mirror for a while, so she wouldn't know. "No." Natasha answered quickly.

Clint chuckled, and it was a simple thing. "Your eyes were sweating _again_, weren't they?"

"What do you mean again?" She snapped, trying to stop from laughing, "I have _never_ cried before!"

"Aha! So you do admit you were crying!" He grinned, proud. "It's nice to know that you missed me."

Natasha gave him a gentle slap on the shoulder-She didn't want to hurt him again, and said, "Of course I cried, you idiot. You _were shot through the heart_. I was just trying to stop your ego from expanding."

"Can my ego get bigger than Stark's?"

"Yes it can. With proper compliments and care, it can get bigger than Stark's. Although that would take a long time, Stark is a celebrity."

"Touché, but I'm going to take that as a compliment."

"I take that back, it doesn't need a long time, you can inflate your own ego."

"Ow, that bruised it really bad."

"Just doing my job, the world needs more room for more people's egos."

The next day, Clint was able to get out of the hospital. His healing was strangely fast, and the doctors were doubtful, but after a lot of nagging and 'persuasion' from Fury, Clint was back at the Stark Tower, which was running with kidmania.

"KATNISS!" Tony had cheered when Clint had first gotten back, and jumped onto Clint's leg, holding on tightly.

Bruce was walking in the wake that Tony had created, carrying a big laptop. "Tony, your equationth wrong."

"Shut up, Brucie." Tony muttered, and snuggled into Clint's leg. Clint plucked little Tony off his leg, and held him against his chest.

"Hey little green man," Clint teased, "Found anything yet?"

Bruce shook his head reluctantly at first. "Unfortunately, no. We did however, find thomething related to why you and Nat'th pieceth are thuck together."

"Ooh, do share!" Clint said, taking a seat on the couch. Bruce clambered up the couch with the laptop on his lap to show them.

"Well, firtht of all, where ith Natatha?" Bruce asked, looking around for the red-headed assassin.

Clint shrugged. "She's coming, don't worry."

"Okay," Bruce smiled, showing a gap-toothed grin. "Tho, howth your wound?"

Hawkeye's hand absentmindedly flew to his chest, where he could feel the banadages. "Just _peachy_."

At this minute, Natasha entered, wearing a tank top-that she felt fit her more like a mid-riff-and shorts. "Hey guys. Clint." She nodded in his direction. "After this, I was thinking we could try sparring again. But you know, nothing too big, wouldn't want your heart to _explode_."

"We could install a heart monitor or like a pace-maker," Tony suggested, putting his small hand on Clint's chest, right over his heart. "I could design it. It would be easy." He grinned devilishly.

"Maybe if my heart crashes," Clint says, taking Tony's hand off his chest. "I don't want an arc reactor just _yet_."

Bruce slid along the couch so Natasha could sit beside Clint. "Thank you," She said, sitting down comfortably beside Clint.

He watched her from the corner of his eye, fake-yawned, and put his arm down behind Natasha, who rolled her eyes.

"Ah, true love." Tony grins, spoiling most of the mood.

Clint frowns. "_Go away_, Antonio."

"I _live_ here."

"Anyway," Bruce stepped in, stopping the fight that was probably going to break out between Clint and little-five-year old Tony, "It'th really quite interethting. We figure that the reason your guy'th pietheth fit together tho well ith the thame reathon why you guyth haven't turned into little children yet. None of the other pietheth can thick together, tho it'th thoundth lame, but it'th the moth logical."

"So... You're saying," Natasha looks up at the ceiling as she focuses, trying to make the pieces fit together right-no pun intended. "That our pieces are stuck together, because they're _supposed_ to stick together? Like it's what they were meant to do?"

"That'th correct." Bruce nodded solemnly.

"It all makes sense." Clint says, arm still around Natasha's shoulders, "But if the other pieces of the capsule won't fit back together, how do we make it work again?"

"That'th where we're having trouble figuring it out." Bruce answered, looking back down at the computer, where the blueprints of the capsule are. "We can't figure out what about your pieceth that make them thick together. If we could find thothe elementth,"

"Then we can fix the time capsule." Tony finishes, and everyone in the room looks satisfied again.

A silence fills the room as the two assassins process all this slowly.

"So..." Clint starts, looking at the two miniuature scientists. "Any ideas?"

* * *

**Oooh, kind of cliffy! There will be more, I promise, and then... I have an idea to make it very angsty. **

**Clint: MMMPH MMMPH MMMM!**

**Me: What's that you say, Clint? Oh, tell our readers about the awesome translator I just installed for you? Why yes, of course.**

**Clint: MMMPH MMM MMPH! (Please review!)**

**Natasha: Okay, I'm letting go, he's spitting and licking my hand. *releases Clint.***

**Clint: TONY YOU SUCK THAT'S NOT AT ALL WHAT I SAID I SAID NAT PLEASE RELEASE ME YOU ARE A HORRIBLE AUTHOR AND I AM BACK ALIVE AND *pauses and gasps for air.* That's all.**

**Me: Love you too, Clint.**

**Steve: Hang on. What?**

**Me: Uh... *disappears.***

**Steve: YOU COME BACK HERE! YOU CAN'T JUST WRITE YOURSELF OUT! YOU-Natasha, what are you doing?**

***Natasha is wiping her hand on Steve.***

**OH CURSES MY QUESTION MARK IS SCREWED IT`S NOT ? IT`S ÉÉÉÉÉÉÉ AHHH FIX IT FOR MEÉÉÉÉÉÉÉÉ **


	12. Chapter 12

**Hello my dear readers. Well, I need to end this soon, can`t let this drag on forever.**

**Disclaimer: Don`t fricking own Marvel!**

**Clint: Please reviewwww-WAIT I DID NOT SAY THAT, I WANTED TO SAY-**

**Natasha: Heheheheh, yes, you did say that Clint. Yes. You. Did.**

**Steve: This is just getting weird.**

**Tony: Hey, readers! The author-lady-person is planning on starting a _NEW _Avengers fanfic! Any ideas?**

**Bruce: Please send them to- Tony, why are you poking me?**

**Tony: *poking Bruce in the arm* Poke. Poke. Poke.**

**Bruce: I am going to-ASFDKVHJSKHFVLKVHJSLH *turns into Hulk***

**Hulk: RSAEHDXIVMJSOVNHEIDJ HULK MAAAAAADDDD!**

**Steve: ...**

**Fury: Oh crap, Tony. You really had to fuck this one up, didn't ya?**

* * *

"What do you think?" Clint asked, ducking a roundhouse kick from Natasha.

She backed up, wiping a bandaged wrist on her forehead. "What do I think? I think..." Natasha swung a punch at his face, which he dodged also. "I think that the element might have something to do with our relationship."

"Like what?" He asked, deflecting a punch from her, "Us as you know..._ Us us_, or friend us?"

"Might be both." She inquired, ducking under a punch and tackling him. "Could be mixed together."

"Well, which do you like better?" Clint asked, leaping back up on his feet. "I'm hoping that-Oof!" Natasha had landed a lucky uppercut into his jaw, knocking him onto the ground.

She grinned, but then he swiped at her feet, causing her to fall rather ungracefully, and swearing. "I'm thinking it's our _partnership_. Years of being together. You're like my brother."

Clint winced slightly, but quickly regained his composure. "But like, a _hot_ brother, right?"

"Gross!" She said, punching him in the arm, grabbing her water bottle. "I wouldn't have a crush on my brother."

"Well, if you were my sister, you'd be my_ hot_ sister." He grinned, and she glared at him menacingly as she guzzled her water.

"Okay, so you're not like my brother." Natasha said, screwing the cap back onto the bottle, "But I _don't_ have a crush on you!"

"Of course you don't," Clint shrugs, flicking his head slightly in her direction, "Because you're completely, and madly," He moved closer, inching more and more near her face with his. "In love with me." He whispers in her face, with his hovering so close to hers.

Natasha smiles seductively. "Three little words," She whispered back, batting her eyelashes. "No. Fricking. Way." She punched him in the gut again, just hard enough to make him stagger back and hold it, and grins.

"So you do love me." He whimpers, with a strained voice, and doubled over holding his stomach. "Just admit it. You know you... Want to."

Natasha crossed over to him in two steps, pinned him against the wall, and managed to look as pissed as _hell_. She suddenly leaned forward, pressing her lips into his, digging his back into the wall. Her hands press against his chest, pushing him back into the training room wall. Clint slowly snakes his arms around her waist, and _Oh god, she's pushing me. Really hard. Into the wall. Can't. Breathe._

He needed air, his lungs practically burned for it, but he didn't want to pull away. Luckily, she was the one who pulled away, because her watch started beeping loudly. He gasped for air, trying not to, because he sounded like a panting dog.

"I'm sorry, I have to... Leave." She gave him a weak smile, gestured to the door, and started backing out of the room. "I'll see you... Later." And she was gone.

Clint stood there for a long time, still trying to catch his breath, when Tony stuck his head in, a sly grin on his face. Clint almost jumped at the sight of the head and then the rest of the body following it, because he was kind of in shock.

"Well, well, well, looks like the spider caught the birdy." Tony used his little hands to imitate a bird flailing in a web. "Did you happen to know that some spiders _eat_ birds?"

Clint's mind was still replaying the kiss, but he managed to retaliate with, "Did you know that I don't mind serving knuckle sandwiches to little kids?" He made a fist, and then Tony was gone.

_Tasha, I just wanted to ask if-No, that's so stupid_. Clint held his breath, pacing back and forth in front of Natasha's room. _Hey Nat! I was wondering if you would like to go on a date with- I can't ask that, she'll beat the crap out of me, and then some._

Yes, Clint wanted to ask Natasha out on a date. Not one of his better ideas, but he figured, you know, the two were getting kind of... Closer, with one another, so maybe a date was needed. After all, the two were master assassins, so if they went out and kind of fought crime, and saved the world together, and then Clint kissed the pretty girl-Natasha-at the end, it would still qualify as a date.

Right?

Finally, he gathered up his courage, and knocked on her door. Clint had only tapped on it lightly, but the door slowly creaked open, revealing a dimly lit room.

"Nat...?" Clint stuck his head in, pushing the door back more to try to see in. He didn't want to just enter, but where was Nat? "Tasha, are you in here?" He stepped in hesitantly, glancing around warily for any sign of his partner. Clint tried to flick the light switch on, but the bulb was burned out, because nothing lit up the room.

Her bed was messy, clothes strewn on the floor, and window open, blowing the curtains up. Clint bent down, picking up Natasha's stray clothes. "Hey Nat, I think you need a new light." He dropped her clothes down at the foot of her closet, when a sudden gust blew a bunch of papers off her messy desk. He ran over to the window, and shut it quickly.

Clint knelt, and scooped up her papers. During this process, he caught sight of her notes. He didn't want to snoop, but the notes disturbed him greatly.

_-Time Capsule= Doesn't work if connected two pieces; Clint and mine connected, and we're still adults. Connection = ?_

_Friendship = ? Relationship= ? Must research more_

_-Send progress to Carabas *must not forget*_

The alter-ego of Hawkeye frowned as he put the notes back neatly on her messy desk. He saw a copy of the blueprint for the time capsule, and stood over the desk to study it. There was a basic outline of the shape, the like a sphere almost, round, and it looked like Natasha had figured out where all the Avengers' pieces fit on the whole time capsule. There were four more spaces missing though, which was odd.

_Tony never built the sphere so big, so why would there be four extra spaces?_ Clint wondered, holding up the blueprint and studying more closely._ And strangely, why would the four extra pieces each come in close contact with the other Avenger's pieces? It just doesn't make sense._

As Clint held the blueprint closer, there was a loud bang downstairs, and he quickly put down the paper. Clint headed down the stairs, jogging down. "Guys, what's going on?"

A blood-curdling scream filled the air, followed by a series of "CLINT! CLINT! CLINT!"'s and Clint ran to find its source.

"Pepper?!" He was really scared, the kids were seemingly missing, and _WHERE THE HELL WERE FURY AND MARIA?_ "Maria! Fury! Pepper!"

More screaming, and then _dear god, was that a gunshot?_ Clint picked up his pace, sprinting to every room, and throwing the door open, only to find it terrifyingly empty.

Clint held up his wrist comm, glancing around the giant penthouse. "Nat?! Where are you? Black Widow, do you read me? What's your twenty-Oh, just ditch the crap, WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?"

Terrifyingly, he only received _static._

Clint took this time to swear, and run down to the workshop, where when he threw the door open, a rain of confetti was thrown upon him. "SURPRISE!"

He suddenly fell backwards, thrown back from the scene, and it sure did take him a long time to let the whole thing seep in. There was a banner strung across the ceiling, reading _Happy Birthday Clint!_ in bold bubble letters, and everyone was smiling at him. Pepper was holding a cake with his face in candles on it. Clint sat up immediately, frown on his face.

"WHAT THE _HELL_ IS GOING ON?!" He demanded, practically panting with anger.

Tony rolled his eyes. "Uh, the banner says _Happy Birthday_, and Pepper's holding a specially candle placed cake with your name on it. Literally. You'd think we didn't make it obvious enough."

"Where's NAT?!" He screeched, eyes seething and boiling, "And it's not my birthday!"

"... It's not?" Steve asked, as the mood had suddenly died. "Talk about awkward." There was long silence.

"You mean _hawkward._" Tony murmurs, looking at his feet. Then slowly, Steve and Tony look up to meet each other's glances, and burst out laughing.

"HAWKWARD!"

"Hawkward," Steve mutters, wiping a tear out of his eye. "Good one, Antonio, good one."

"Why thank you, Capsicle," Tony says, with a tip of his imaginary hat.

Pepper seems confused and disturbed by this whole thing, and slowly puts down the cake on Tony's work table. "Well, we have a perfectly good cake, so we might as well eat it. I'm sorry for the mix-up, Clint."

Clint doesn't answer, just walks straight up to Fury. "Where's Natasha?" He asks, crossing his arms.

"Why the hell are you askin' me?" Fury snapped, not in the least pleasant, "I don't fucking know where your girlfriend went, that's your business."

"I just thought you might have sent her on a mission," Clint said, through gritted teeth, "Or something else."

"Speaking of missions," Fury continued, holding a finger up to his ear comm, "There's been a bank raid downtown. Get your sorry ass down there, and then go find your girly-girl, alright?"

Clint scowled again. Fury was starting to get on his last nerves.

* * *

**Some shit is about to go down... You can tell. **

**I LOVE YOU GUYS! I HAVE ALMOST REACHED 3000 VIEWS! OMG! :D**

**Review or PM me... Pretty please?**

**Hulk: HULK MAAAADD!**

**Me: Hulk, calm down.**

**Hulk: HULK NO HAVE LISP!**

**Me: Um... Yeah, it's called suspension of belief so you can just enjoy the fanfic.**

**Hulk: AEFJSDVKNSLD SUSPENSION OF WHAAA?!**

**Me: Yep, sure could use Bruce right about now.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Hey guys! Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel, but as I said before, it's the things that you can't have, that you appreciate the most.**

**Clint: Woowee, a whole chapter on moi! This is gonna be epic as hell.**

**Natasha: Technically, not full of you, my name is mentioned there.**

**Me: Don't forget, I want to start a new Avengers fanfic, so review or PM me your ideas!**

**Tony: Maybe we can have a fanfic revolving around me this time? Just a suggestion...**

**Steve: So... Like a Pepperony fanfic?**

**Tony: *eyeroll* Is that Pepper and my, name again? I hate it, why does Pepper get her full name and not me? There's a T! T for Tony, people! Argh, we need to get this right.**

**Natasha****_: _****Oh, tell it to someone who cares, Stark.**

**Tony: Don't wear my name out, Rushman, trying to build a brand here.**

* * *

So Clint went downtown, in full uniform and with all his weapons. He didn't know why he needed all his weapons, if it was just a minor bank robbery, Clint could knock the guy out, and take him to jail. While wearing normal clothes.

The catch was, though, this wasn't a regular bank robbery. Clint got to the bank, but the people were pointing to the roof, where a metal-suited stranger stood, surveying the crowd. Unlike the Iron Man suit, it was more of a cat suit underneath, and bronze plates covering the chest region, the pelvis, the knees all the way down to the feet, like boots, and from the elbow to the fingers, like gloves. It had circles on the palms, just like Iron Man's repulsors, but Clint had no idea what they shot out of them. Their tattered grey-with a red undertone-cape swirled in the wind around them. The robber's face was covered with a red mask, depicting a skull.

The left side of the skull had three red slash marks over the eye, so the right eye stayed open.

"Well, if it isn't Hawkeye." The villain cocked his head at him, hands behind his, or her, back. The voice was well disguised, metallic and echoing, leaving no trace of whether the person behind the mask was female or male.

Hawkeye's eyes narrowed in slits as he held up his bow at the villain's face."Who _are_ you?" He snarled, as the two circled each other.

A crowd had flocked near the building, hovering away slightly since the police were holding them back, but that didn't stop them from watching the Avenger and the villain's confrontation.

"I'm the Crimson Flame," They told him, and Clint could hear the smile in their face. "It's such a pleasure to meet you."

"What do you want?" Hawkeye barked, not letting his guard down. He was ready to release the arrow straight into the villain's good eye.

"Nothing much," The Crimson Flame answered, rubbing their fingers together, as if it had sand in between them. "I craved your attention." They stopped walking, and looked at Hawkeye dead on, shifting it's weight. "And now that I have it..."

Hawkeye stood still, balancing his frozen weight evenly on his feet. "You will give back what you stole." He ordered, watching the new villain.

The Crimson Flame chuckled in his throat. "Seismic generators, Hawkeye." Clint finally decided to rule him as a guy, he couldn't picture a female standing behind that mask. The Flame held up three fingers. "Three of them. If you don't bring me the completed object in five hours, than I'll trigger and earthquake so magnificent, it'll break your city." He put his two index fingers together, and then broke them apart, enunciating the words, "In. Two."

_Completed object... Could he mean the time capsule?_ Clint shook his head._ He couldn't know about that, no one knew that the Avengers were kids._ "I don't know what you're talking about," Clint replied, knuckles bleaching his arrow white.

"But you do, Hawkeye." The Crimson Flame chuckled in his throat again. "You know _exactly_ what I'm talking about."

Hawkeye's breath sped up, as the adrenaline started fizzling in his veins. "You were there," Clint concluded, frosty blue eyes narrowing in realization, "You were the one who shot me!"

"But of course little birdy," Clint could hear the evil smile on the villain's face, despite the mask. "So smart to figure it out so early in the game."

Clint couldn't take it anymore. He fired the arrow at the Flame's face, but with a single wave of his hand, he confiscated it out of the air and snapped it in two. Clint started sprinting over to the Flame, throwing punches at his face. The Flame was able to dodge every single one of them, barely flinching. It was as if he knew exactly what Clint was going to do, all his moves.

Finally, the Flame started throwing punches, but each time, it was a hit. Clint managed to regain his balance, so he ducked, weaved, and tackled the Crimson Flame onto the ground. The Crimson Flame slid his feet up, and kicked Clint off of him, sending him sprawling.

"Tick tock, Clint," The Crimson Flame whispered in his ear. "You have five hours." Hawkeye watched as the Flame leaped backwards, and fizzed away, like an image interrupted by static.

Clint quickly held his wrist up to his mouth, breathing heavy into the wrist comm. "Natasha." He whispered into it, feeling scared. "Where are you?" He sat there for a long time, digging his fingers into his hair.

* * *

**Remember, PM or leave me your ideas for a new fanfic! All ideas will be considered, so no idea is a stupid one. The top five that I like, I will write small previews for each so you guys can decide after! Deal?**

**Love you!**

**Tony: You mean they love ****_me._**

**Me: How does that-how is that even relating to me saying 'Love you'?**

**Tony: I dunno. I just know that they love me.**

**Me: What about all those Jeremy Renner, Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth fans out there?**

**Tony: ... I have absolutely no idea who those people are.**

**Me: Oh right, DC universe. Okay, what about Hawkeye, Thor, Captain America or Bruce Banner slash Hulk fans out there?**

**Tony: They can have their little heroes, but they have no idea what they're missing out on.**

**Me: *eyeroll* Whatever. **


	14. Chapter 14

**I JUST REACHED OVER 3000 VIEWS!** **:D :D Remember, I want to write a new Avengers fanfic, so give me your ideas! No idea is a stupid one, PM or leave review stating your idea!**

**Thank you, I couldn't have done this without you!**

**Disclaimer: EEEEEK I wished I owned Marvel, but I don't.**

**Clint: Shaddup! I'm trying to watch the Oscars here!**

**Tony: See! See, right there Natty, Scarlett Johansson does look like you!**

**Natasha: Well, Robert Downey Jr. looks like you.**

**Tony: Please, that guy? He's like a wannabe me. He wishes he were me.**

**Clint: I think you wish you were him.**

**Bruce: Clint, has anyone ever told you that you look like the guy in Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters?**

**Clint: Oh, you must mean the incredibly handsome one. ;)**

* * *

He returned to the Stark Tower with a heavy heart, and no sign of Natasha. After relaying the whole fight sequence and the demands of this new mystery villain, Clint discovered his headache had returned. And this time, it brought triple times it's potency.

The Avengers were all gathered in the living room, the kids on the couch with Maria and Pepper, Fury leaning on the door frame, and Clint staring out the window, as if scanning for any signs of Natasha.

"So..." Tony broke the silence, drawing out the word long and hard, "It actually happened?"

Clint didn't break his gaze from the window, and he could see his reflection in front of Manhattan. "I don't know who they were, but he knows about the time capsule, and he wants it completed."

"I was referring to you getting your butt kicked," Tony replied, making Pepper glare at him, which results in him changing what he was saying, "But to get it completed in five hours!? That's even hard for me! I don't even know where all the pieces fit together, because they don't!"

Clint turned, torn between fixing the capsule and looking for Natasha. "Well what can we do? The whole city's going to be trashed, I can't defeat Crimson Flame and the only person who would know what to do is..." He stopped, and shifted his gaze back to the window. "We could really use her help right now."

Fury had his usual scowl, and had remained quiet until now, and he spoke up. "I know I saw Natasha leave. It just doesn't make sense that she would disappear."

"That's because she didn't." Pepper conferred, finally speaking. "I know Natasha, and she wouldn't just run off in the middle of something important. War doesn't care what gender you are, and even though nobody likes the fact that Natasha is a girl, she will stand and fight."

"So what are we supposed to do now?" Steve asked, voice slightly tipping on the edge of tears. "I don't want the city to break." His lip trembled.

"It won't." Fury uncrossed his arms and stood upright, crossing his arms behind his back. "Not on my watch. Tony and Bruce, you two get straight on thinking up a way to fix that time capsule. Steve, you do what you can. Thor, help 'em. Clint, you find the seismic generators, Maria-"

"No." Clint said firmly, looking away from the window to stare stone-cold at Fury. "I'm finding Natasha. We're going to need her on our side if we want to win this war."

"First of all, I'm not sure this even qualifies as a war," Tony cut in, frowning with his little mouth, "And secondly, Fury, are you _out of your eye-patched mind?!_ That time capsule is morphing and changing! We can't put it back together!"

"LISTEN UP, YOU LITTLE PINT-SIZED ANNOYANCE!" Fury boomed, staring straight on at Tony, "This is a war, and we are not going to lose! We _cannot_ because the city of Manhattan depends on our victory, and second of all, you _are_ going to fix that time capsule, and you _will_ change back to your adult selves. DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?"

Tony could only nod, trembling at the edge that was held in Fury's voice.

"Good. And Clint," Fury made his way over to him, overcoat lapping at his legs as usual. Fury took Clint's shoulder, like a father, and whispered, "Find Natasha if you can, but you must shut down those generators."

The assassin just nodded, but Fury then added, "Clint, I know I don't usually give advice, and no one listens to it if I do, but there is always two sides to the war. Good or bad, there is no middle ground, and no matter how small of a part you have, it always plays a difference in the end."

"I know." Clint replied, turning slightly to look at him. "I just don't know which side Natasha is on."

So Clint went out to track down Natasha, wearing his uniform underneath a black coat which pressed his quiver to his skin. He walked down to a park, which was slightly empty due to the decrepit ominous grey sky hovering above them. Clint walked over to the swing slowly, and sat down, using the balls of his feet to push himself back and forth.

"You're not going to find me that way," He heard a voice, and then a twig snap behind him. Clint whirled around, and saw Natasha swinging in a tree, in her full uniform, head cocked and face in a brilliant smile.

"Tasha?" He asked, surprised, jumping off the swing, "You're okay!" Clint ran for her, but as quickly as she had appeared, she just disappeared.  
Not-slip-into-the-trees-and-magically-blend-in disappear, it was literally poof, and she was gone.

"I'm seeing things," He grumbled to himself, sticking his hands back into his pockets and turning back to the swing.

He saw lips that he'd kissed, and green eyes in his face, and suddenly Natasha backed up away from him. "So yeah, I'm just a figment of your imagination." She backtracked into the swing and sat down, scraping her feet along the sand. "But I'm here to offer you some advice."

"Advice advice advice," Clint mutters, taking a seat beside her, "And why would my imagination want to offer myself advice? I mean, that's stupid, if you think about it."

Natasha kept swinging back and forth slightly, wind whipping her red hair around her face, hiding her side profile, contorting it. Finally, she met his gaze. "Clint. There are things in this world that we can't explain, or are inexplicable, but do we still believe in them?"

He didn't understand what she was trying to tell him, so he looked at his hands in his lap, trying to avert her eyes, as if they could pry into his thoughts. "Somethings, yes."

She stuck her head in front of his, still smiling. "Suspension of belief. If you have that, then anything you want, anything you can imagine, it will be true."

"Are you trying to tell me that if I imagine you're really here, then you really will be here?" Clint asks, looking up at her.

Her eyes were smiling, but her actual smile was a sad one, gentle and full of hurt. "If you have suspension of belief, and you believe that I'm actually here."

"I wish I could find you, Nat." He told her, and he felt so_ stupid_ for literally talking to himself, but she felt so real, as if it actually were her.

Natasha-or his imagination-gently leaned over, and gave him a kiss on his cheek. "I'm sorry," She whispers, tears in her eyes.

"What? What're you sorry for-" But she started backing up, away from him, and disappeared into the trees.

Then he knew for sure. She was real. He had _felt_ her; her hand was warm like an actual human's and she kissed him.

"Nat!" Clint sprinted towards the trees, but his realization had come too late. He had lost her, yet again. "You can't keep doing this to me," He says out loud, as if she was still listening, "You play with me every time, and then you disappear."

Only the trees answered him. And then, with tears welling in his eyes, he took in a deep breath and said, "I will always love you, Natalia Romanov."

Then, Hawkeye turned, and left the park.

* * *

Bruce held up the apple juice box for Tony to sip.

Tony pretended to wipe a bead of sweat of his forehead. "This. Is. IMPOSSIBLE!"

Thanks to Fury and Clint, the two had gotten their little hands on Natasha's version of the blueprints, and they found out that they'd under-estimated their red-head for her brain power, and that she was quite a formidable thinker.

"Hey Cappy," Tony called, "You finished?"

Steve ran over quite excitedly, bouncing on the heels of his feet. "Got it," And he handed Tony the paper cut-out of what one of the missing pieces might look like.

Bruce took the paper cut-out, jumped up onto the encyclopedia which was put on the chair so the three toddlers would have an easy time getting up to the _almost_ completed sphere. Bruce pressed the paper cut out in one of the holes, but it didn't fit properly. He turned to eager looking Steve and tired Tony and sadly, shook his head.

The two kids groaned, happiness being wiped right off of Steve's face fast. All three looked disdainful, as they set to work again.

Suddenly, Bruce's face lit up again. "Hang on!" He pulled at Tony, jumping up and down. "I think I got thomething!" Bruce jabbed at the computer screen, trying to contain his excitement.

"Bruce, just tell us already!" Tony yelled exaspartedly.

"JARVITH," Bruce called, "Play the footage of Clint and Natatha kithing!"

As the video feed played through of Natasha giving Clint a kiss on the lips, Tony looked confused. "What does that have to do with the time capsule?"

"The element!" Bruce screamed, rocking back and forth and crying in glee all the while, "It hath to do with their relathionthip! That'th why their pieceth fit together, becauthe it'th like you thaid! They're _thoulmateth_."

Steve and Tony's faces lit up as what Bruce had just said sunk in. "It all makes sense it all makes sense!" Tony, Steve and Bruce held hands and danced in a circle happily. "Hey Thor Thor," Tony called, breaking out of the circle, "Happen to have DNA of Jane's?"

Thor's head jerked up from the work bench-he had secretly been napping-and he quickly sat up. "Man of Iron, may you please repeat what you just asked?"

"Do. You. Have. DDDNNNNAAAA..." Tony dragged out the words, long and hard, "Offff Janeeeeeee'sss?"

Thor shook his head. "I apologize, friend Stark, alas, I do not carry Jane's DNA with me."

"Ah, shame you don't," Tony muttered, crossing his arms. "JARVIS, call Pepper down here for me,"

"What are you planning?" Steve asked, rubbing his hands together, confused.

Tony waited until Pepper came down before before he told Steve his intentions. "It's simple, I need our 'soulmates'," He made air quotation marks with his stubby fingers, "DNA, so I can create new pieces. As soon as we fit those pieces in, we will return to normal!" He finally smiled, after all that exhaustion in the workshop.

Pepper walked over to Tony, one hand on her hip, an action that would still remain regal even with Pepper, who's eyes were bloodshot, Pepper, who was dressed in sweats and a t-shirt, and Pepper, who had deep bags imbedding underneath her eyes, bun disheveled. "Tony, what do you want? Lunch?"  
He shook his head vigorously. "Bend down for me please, Ms. Potts."

She eyed him warily, but obeyed.

He plucked a piece of her hair, making her squeak in protest, and then Tony held the side of her face and pecked her quickly on the cheek, which looked weird, a five year old kid kissing an adult. Pepper stood up very quickly, eyes wide.

"Thank you, love you Pep." Then Tony shooed him away, and turned back to the three kids. "Okay, now, Brucie, fork over your girlfriend's hair, and we can call Jane for her to come over," He nodded at Thor.

Slowly, everyone turned to stare at the odd man out.

"Uh... Why are you all looking at me?" Steve squawked, and Tony extended a chubby hand.

The mini Iron Man smiled impishly. "Fork it over Uncle Sam."

"I... Don't call me Uncle Sam!" Steve complained, but Tony ignored this, hand still in front of him. Steve reluctantly reached to his neck and pulled out a very small locket. He opened it, and sitting inside was a small piece of Peggy's hair.

Tony confiscated it without hesitation, and Steve's face kept flashing between protest and a mask of calm. "Be careful," He called, following Tony as he jumped up to the purification system, "That's very precious to me."

"Oh, cool it, Capscicle." Tony placed the locket of hair on a small petri disc and slid it under the purification light. "You'll get it back, and it'll be untainted."

Soon after Jane had come and Thor had gotten his lock of hair, and after Tony had to look at _all_ of Bruce's hair for one small hair fiber of Betty, Tony was making the pieces for the time capsule.

Needless to say, the tension and anticipation was unbearable.

* * *

**Watching the Oscars? Me too! :D :D**

**LOL, I am so cool.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Hey, how y'all doin?** **I'm thinking two more chapters left. :(**

**It was a wonderful journey writing for you guys, thank you for sticking with me all the way!**

**I want to write a new fanfic, so please leave ideas for me! :D**

**Clint: This is the best chapter so far. I think.**

**Tony: Yep, Legolas, you actually did good this time. *gives a pat on the back.***

**Natasha: Why did I have to disappear?**

**Me: It's called a good plot.**

**Steve: Please review! :) **

**Bruce: WHY DIDN'T THE AVENGERS WIN AN OSCAR? WE DID GOOD IN IT! RAGHHHHHH!**

**Me: Hang on... Wait, you guys were in the movie? I thought... Robert Downey Jr... Chris Evans... Jeremy Renner...**

**Hulk: RAGGHHH HULK MAAAD!**

**Me: Scarlett Johansson... Samuel L. Jackson... Tom Hiddlestone...**

**Hulk: RAGGGHHHHH WHY AVENGERS NO WIN?!**

**Tony: Who cares, Bruce, remember that we will always win. In the fans of our hearts. **

**Hulk: THAT... SO... DEEEEEPPP...**

**Me: Chris Hemsworth... Mark Ruffalo... *still in shock.***

* * *

Meanwhile, Clint ripped all over the city on his motorcycle, searching for any signs of Natasha, the seismic generators, or the Crimson Flame. He didn't need the Flame interrupting his search mission.

He was doing okay, he hadn't found any seismic generators, but he felt like he was heading on the right path. As he rode along, he saw a boy walking down the street, holding hands with his girlfriend.

_Nat, where have you gone?_ He thought to himself as he turned back to the road in front of him, _please be okay._

A sudden force knocked him to the side, flipping him off his bike and onto the rode of an oncoming car. Clint summoned himself to get up as the car lights approached faster... And faster... And faster still, but his muscles wouldn't heed.

Suddenly, someone had lifted him out of the way and dumped him onto the concrete sidewalk. The Crimson Flame's face hovered over him like fog.

"Did you just... Save me?" Clint managed to croak.

The Crimson Flame didn't answer, just hit him hard in the head with the side of his gun, and let unconscious Clint go limp. The Crimson Flame scooped him up, and disappeared into an alleyway's shadows.

* * *

Fury couldn't reach Clint. He called his ear comm, but he wouldn't answer. His tracking device that Fury had installed in his wrist comm had been disabled, so Fury was really starting to worry.

Tony and Bruce had finally gotten the sphere completed, and a party of people had gathered in the workshop, and food was actually being served by Thor and Steve, Pepper quickly throwing cheese, crackers and other food that she managed to rummage from the pantry onto a couple of platters.

They were worried that they couldn't change back to adults without Clint and Natasha, but Tony had elaborated on the fact that as long as the majority of the DNA owners were present, it should work.

Now, all the people sat down on the battered couch, watching a little alter-ego of Iron Man pace around like his adult self. Finally, he stops, smiling at the other adults.

"I bet you're wondering why I've gathered you all here today," Tony told them, looking very serious with a pen hanging out of his mouth like a pipe.

Darcy-who tagged along with Jane because she wanted to see the little kids again-leaned back into the couch more, arms crossed. "You said you found a way to change into adults again, so no, we're not wondering why. Ooh, Steve, can you bring those chips over here?" She signaled to Steve, who came running over and holding the chip platter up to her. "Thank you."

Tony rolled his eyes. "It was rhetorical. I just wanted to say that."

"Did you just say rhetorical?" Jane seemed both amazed and amused with her tone. "A five-year-old knows how to use the word rhetorical."

"Well I'm Tony Stark the five-year-old." He told her, a small scowl on his little lips, "I'm in a completely different category. Anyway, everyone, I have got you all sunglasses because when the time capsule is activated it releases a blinding light." He gestured to Bruce, and the little scientist walked over to the couch, handing out sunglasses.

Jane held out her sunglasses and raised an eyebrow of Tony. "You have a strange sense of humor," She muttered at him as she put her glasses on.  
"What?" Thor asked curiously, looking at Jane.

"Nothing Thor, he just likes to buy his own Avengers merchandise." She replied, and Thor climbed into her lap. Jane looked surprised at first, but she didn't protest in the end.

Truth was, Tony had given Darcy, Thor and Jane sunglasses with Thor pictures on them, and he'd given everyone else their own likeness in sunglasses. Pepper got him, of course, and she wasn't sure whether to be amused of disturbed.

"Okay JARVIS, you ready?" Tony asked, climbing into Pepper's lap.

"Yes sir, there is 0.000071 chance of failure." JARVIS reported, calmly.

"Alrighty then," Tony grinned, but Bruce's jaw dropped.

He hadn't even put on his sunglasses yet, so Tony could start it. Bruce started pacing around, panicking. "Oh no oh no oh no oh no..." Oddly, it was Steve who grabbed him, pinned him to the couch and slapped his Hulk-brandished sunglasses.

"Fire 'er up!" Tony called to JARVIS, and then he added-after a look from Pepper-"Please."

There was a slow ebbing light from the time capsule, and then it sped up, filling the room and blinding them with a crystal white light that poured out, flooding the whole room.

Tony only wanted one thing. _Please work._

* * *

Clint woke up uncomfortable. Sitting in a hard chair in a dark warehouse, arms and legs tied down tightly with thick rope, cutting off his bloodstream and so that if he moved slightly, abrasions cut into his skin.

The warehouse was dimly lit, and Clint hated it. It reminded him of the warehouse explosion with Natasha.

_Natasha..._ He still hadn't found her. He had failed himself.

He heard a gun click on the top of his forehead, and then as he looked up, he could see the Crimson Flame, holding a rifle to his head.

"Look who decided to wake." The Crimson Flame said, digging the gun deeper into Clint's forehead.

Clint scowled at him, putting on his hardest and coldest expression. "What the hell do you want?"

"I said five hours, bird boy." The Flame taunted, tapping his finger lightly on the trigger, "I don't see the time capsule."

"Of course not," Clint answered, rolling his eyes, "You think we're so stupid to just_ give_ you a time traveling device?"

"Keep that attitude with me and my hand might just _slip_ on the trigger." The villain shot back and Clint stilled, fear coursing through his veins.

"Wouldn't be the first time you shot me," Clint grumbled, trying to break out of his binds. His wrists scratched over and over on the tight rope, and blood started to pool in his palms.

The Flame was quiet and very still for a second, breathing heavily in anger. He finally threw a hard punch across Clint's jawline, knocking his head to the side.

Clint slid out a small knife in the index finger of his glove-that he_ just recently_ put in-and sawed at the rope. _Have to keep him distracted_, Clint concluded and said, "You're sick," He spat, sawing faster and harder, "Hitting a guy who's been tied up." He felt the rope split, and fraying.

"Give. Me. The capsule." The Flame dug the top of his rifle deeper and deeper into Clint's forehead, pushing it back, causing Hawkeye's neck to ache slightly.

Clint broke through the first layer of rope, and continued sweating slightly as he kept cutting through the second layer. _One more to go,_ he thought excitedly, trying to contain his slight joy. "Why don't you go get it? You were smart enough to ambush me and kidnap me, just go get the capsule for yourself! And why did you save me?"

The Flame was seething with anger, boiling over practically, but he kept cool. "Do you want me to tell you my plans? I'm not that stupid, because if you honestly think I would do that, then you. Are. Delusional."

Hawkeye was starting on the last layer of rope. After this, he'd be home free, and could free his legs quickly. There was something familiar about the Flame's voice, and it might have been a subconscious thing, but the way this person fought and moved reminded him of... Someone. It was on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn't place who the hell the Flame reminded him of.

"Where's the capsule?" The Flame asked boredly after sighing, as if he already knew the whereabouts of the time capsule.

Hawkeye broke through. "You. Guess!" He threw his arms forward and punched the Flame hard in the face, knocking him back hard. During the time that the Flame was thrown back into the wall, Clint quickly untied the binds around his ankles. The Crimson Flame had already gotten up when Clint had finished one leg, and ran for Clint.

Clint saw him coming, stood up, chair and all, and spun around, smashing the chair into the Flame's leg, breaking the chair and leaving only a piece of the chair's leg attached to his ankle. The villain growled, got back up and the two ran towards each other, punching and kicking.

The Flame hit Clint a bunch of times hard in the face, but Clint had double-tapped him on the side of his stomach, knocking him down. Clint then straddled him by the hips and started beating him mercilessly, taking out all the hatred and pain of Natasha leaving him. He punched and punched until the Flame's mask started coming loose. Red hair started spilling out, and the Flame wrapped his legs around Clint during he was surprised at the hair, and knocked him to the floor.

The Flame stood up, grabbing the gun off the ground, and clicked it, at Clint, who was sitting on the ground, shuffling back, and trying to grab any weapon.

As the mask finally fell off, what Clint saw shocked him, and he could only utter one word, for he realized that he did know the person's identity.

"Nat?"

* * *

**DAMN! OMG GUYS, GOOD HUH?**

**CLIFFY, BECAUSE I KNOW HOW MUCH YOU GUYS HATE THEM... :)**


	16. Chapter 155

**This one's a shortie. I'm going to update more, TRUST ME, I just needed to put this one.**

**It's labeled 15.5 because it's extremely short.**

**So there was this girl today in another class named Natasha, and there was another guy in the exact same class named Clint, and apparently they were dating, so I was fangirling.**

**Over random people I didn't even know. Luckily, I wasn't extreme fangirling, which is when I fangirl so hard I shake, and scream, fall down, sometimes suck my thumb, curl up into a fetal position and I squeeze my face into the _weirdest_ expressions.**

**Fury: You motherfuckers out there, shut the hell up cause I got those bitches watching Brave in there! *points to a dark room.***

**Maria: This is a horrible idea. **

***hears screaming and shouting.***

**Tony: MERIDA, IT'S YOU! *points at Clint and then the TV screen***

**Clint: ... T_T *thinking* _Why Fury, why?_**

**Tony: Hang on... That's not right. She has red hair.**

**Clint: Phew.**

**Tony: ... SHE'S THE LOVE CHILD OF NATASHA AND CLINT! HAHAHAHAHA!**

**Clint and Natasha: *stares at each other.* We shall never speak of this.**

**Tony: Wait wait wait, Queen Elinor, why can't we talk about this?**

**Natasha: *scowl* Because I will personally melt your Iron Man suit. With a blowtorch.**

**Clint: And I will... I will... *thinks.* I WILL TELL THOR THAT IRON MAN: ARMORED ADVENTURES WAS THE REAL STORY OF YOUR ADOLESCENCE! HA! SEE HOW THAT WORKS OUT!**

**Tony: ... Screw you, Tweety.**

* * *

He was in shock. At first, his brain was numb, he couldn't think and he was in complete and _total shock._

_Nat._

_Natasha Romanoff, the girl I was in love with has betrayed me._

_Natasha Romanoff, my best friend and partner, is evil. A traitor._

_A liar._

Clint was paralyzed, but then, as quick as the tears came, the anger, frustration and sadness all came pouring out.

"Natasha, how could you do this to us?!" He sobbed, letting the tears flow down his face steadily.

He hadn't cried in years, but it felt natural. Funny how something you don't do in years can come back to you just like that.

"How could you do this to me?" He whispered at last.

Her face remained cold and expressionless as she swallowed and cocked the gun.

Clint sat still, unbelieving and feeling like he'd just died within the last 15 seconds. "Tasha, we're friends, remember? Why would you lie to me?"

"That's because she's not your friend." A new voice entered, echoing from the shadows. "She's my partner."

A tall, gaunt looking man entered, dressed in a grey pinstripe suit and a silver tie around his neck. A limp mustache drooped over his lips giving him the serious business man look, matching his slick black hair.

Clint recognized him slowly, as one of the people who watched him fight the Crimson Flame. He was still having trouble getting his head over the fact that the Flame was Natasha.

Is Natasha. She was still wearing the suit, and maybe it was Clint's lack of notice earlier, but it just suddenly seemed to fit her curves.

"Who the hell are you?" Clint hissed, watching the man walk over to Natasha's side, arms locked behind his back.

"Carabas." The man answered dryly, and then he turned to look at Natasha. "Get the time capsule, my lovely?"

Her eyes stayed locked on Clint's blue ones, and her grip only seemed to tighten around the gun. "No, but we will soon. Unfortunately, he knows now, so I have no choice."

"Good." Carabas seemed pleased, even though he hadn't got what he wanted. "This is a test of your loyalty. Shoot him, and you're bound to me forever."

Natasha's eye twitched slightly, and she tapped against the trigger again lightly.

Clint was confused, but he had a small idea. "Why do you need the time capsule anyway, Carabas?"

"You idiot!" Carabas barked, and he grinned again, "I need the capsule to change time and manipulate it, of course."

"Hang on..." Clint said, "If Natasha was there when the Crimson Flame shot me, and Natasha's the Crimson Flame, then who shot me?"

Carabas rolled his eyes. "I did, you stooge. My dear Natalia, would you care to explain?"

_Natasha hated when people called her Natalia,_ Clint thought, _I thought she hated anything that reminded her of her past. That's why she changed her name in the first place. This guy doesn't know anything about her._ And that just made Clint want to pound him into a bloody pulp more.

"After we were sparring, and my watch beeped, that was Carabas. We met after you got shot. I had chased him down, but he presented me with a very interesting deal. So that time when my watch beeped, I had to go meet him to put the Crimson Flame back in Manhattan's book of villains. We knew that without me, you would ultimately... Fail."

"Nice to know you think I'm a good fighter," Clint remarked.

Her eyes narrowed into little slits, and lips that had once been kissed by him pressed into tight thin lines. Her grip on the gun unfaltered as did her expression.

"Kill him." Carabas hissed, and Natasha's finger gripped the trigger.

Clint closed his eyes as a solitary tear slid down his cheek. "I love you." He whispered.

* * *

**Clint is personally a very huge fan of Lord of the Rings. He doesn't mind when Tony calls him Legolas, and honestly fanboyed the first time he did.**

**However, when it comes to calling him Katniss and Merida, that he minds.**

**Once, on Clint's wishes, Bruce and Tony tried to build a cap that would make the wearer disappear.**

**It did not end well.**

**REVIEW Y'ALL MOTHAFUCKERS! **

**-Fury**


	17. Chapter 16

**Precious93, STOP GUESSING MY PLOTS! GRAGH! :P I love you. :)**

**Anyway, please enjoy.**

**REVIEW!**

* * *

Natasha stood still for a second longer, unsure of what to do, clutching the gun.

"What are you waiting for?" Carabas snarled at her, "Shoot him!"

Her eyes narrowed again, and as if realizing something new, Natasha spun around and smacked him in the head with the gun knocking him down. As Carabas fell down, Clint stood up. Natasha now used two hands on the gun, holding Carabas at gunpoint.

"I knew this would happen," He muttered, and clicked a button on his cufflink.

Green eyes widened, and the suit released wave after wave of electrical shock riding across her entire body, causing her to drop to the ground, throwing the gun to Carabas' feet, writhing and screaming in pain.

"What have you done to her?!" Clint demanded, rushing to her side. "Nat, please, are you okay?"

She looked up, and swung her fist at him, sending him flying back.

Carabas stood back up, dusting his suit off. "I didn't do anything she didn't want me to." He answers, now in possesion of the gun, "She came to me, looking for answers, and I gave her exactly what she wanted."

Natasha stood up, stiff and eyes blank.

"You've... You've brainwashed her..." Clint whimpered, forcing himself up.

His best friend only came to knock Clint down again, and she landed a hard punch in his face, splitting his lip and allowing blood to flow steadily down his face.

"I'm very sorry," Carabas said, sounding absolutely fake and not sorry at all, "It seems my partner cannot control herself, so from now on, I'll be controlling her every move."

Natasha ran towards him, teeth bared and picked up by his shirt. Clint had no choice but to punch her in the gut, causing her to release him momentarily. He side-kicked her sternum, but she whirled around and kicked him hard, toe first, in the worst place imaginable-for any guy. It was a dirty move, and Clint fell to his knees, eyes bulging out in pain.

She laughed, something that was_ not_ Natasha's voice, and started kicking him in the face. Clint grabbed her leg, and flung her down onto the ground beside her. She flipped up immediately, whilst Clint struggled to get up. She threw a punch at him, but as he kicked her leg with all his might, he heard cartilage tear.

"Sorry," He mutters, feeling bad. Even if Carabas was controlling her, any injuries he caused to her body would still be felt and could still cause her harm.  
Clint threw a hard punch at her face, a bad move, and she caught his arm, and bent it back so far that it cracked.

He let out a moan of pain as she released it, an evil grin on his face. It hung limp by his side, and tears fogged up his vision.

"I enjoy watching you two fight," Carabas rubbed his hands together, like a greedy boy on Christmas morning. "You fight as if your life is pointless," He said specifically to Clint. "Because it is." Carabas then added boredly, and twirled the gun around his finger. "Finish him for me, Natalia."

"Please Nat, don't." Clint backed up into the wall as she limped over to him, face knit and dripping with poison.

Carabas tossed the gun over to Natasha, who caught it without even looking away from Clint.

She clicked it again, but Clint ducked, grabbed her feet and knocked her back. Carabas then confiscated the gun from her hand and held it in Clint's face. Clint swiped his feet too, and in this small moment, he held Natasha down by her arms as Carabas scrambled to crawl after the gun that slid across the floor.

Natasha shook, as if having a seizure, chest falling quickly and convulsing and twisting in all sorts of weird positions. Her expression changed, softening to herself again.

"You have to stop me, Clint," She whispered, as he stared deep into her lush-forest colored eyes, "He's controlling me with this suit; and there's a small chip on the back of my neck. I don't want to fight anymore."

Clint _wanted_ more than anything to believe her, but could he? She had double-crossed their team, she had threatened him; almost shot him even, but she was under Carabas' control, so was it her fault, or Carabas'? "Then don't let him control you anymore," Clint retaliates.

She turned her head away, even though her body was pinned down by his. "I have no choice." Natasha refused to meet his gaze.

Clint had a horrible plan that would probably end up with him dying, but he believed that Natasha would be released from Carabas' control. He remembered that night at the warehouse, and his vow to keep her safe. Then he put his plan into action.

"That's a lie! You've always had a choice!" He cries, mind believing so. She suddenly turned back up, face angry and contorted again, and kicked upwards, smashing Clint's head hard into the wall.

Carabas presses yet another button on his cufflink, and Natasha sprints over to Clint, grabs his feet, and slams him into the floor relentlessly until Clint grabs her arm and pulls himself down.

"You've always had a choice!" Clint repeats, holding his broken arm, "You've chosen to find Carabas, you've chosen to betray us, and now you've chosen to let him control you! Carabas isn't the one doing all this, you are!"

"NO!" She screamed, and for the first time, she aimed her gloves with the circles in the middle of them at the ceiling and blasted it, causing the debris to fall. Clint didn't have enough time to re-act, and the debris fell on him, trapping his leg.

"Very good, my Natalia." Carabas grinned. "Enjoy the honors, and we will not be interrupted again." He threw her the gun, and this time she held very stiffly, fingers bending like un-oiled machines.

Natasha hesitated for a long time, face contorting between the calm Natasha he knew, and the anger-driven killing machine that Carabas controlled. "I can't fight it, Clint... It's too powerful." She strained, hand shaking visibly.

"You can," Clint pushed, trying to pull his leg out, to no avail, "It's your choice and not his. You can still change it, you can still do the right thing."

She turned away. "It's too late."

"NO!" A voice echoed through out the whole room, and the Avengers entered, fully suited-up and adult-sized.

"You have got to be kidding me!" Carabas threw his hands up in exasparation. "JUST SHOOT HIM!"

At this point, somehow, magically, Clint broke free, and he charged towards Natasha. As he collided with her, the gun fell out of her hand. Clint groped the back of her neck, placing the chip, and nabbing it with his fingers.

There was a deaning BANG, and Clint could feel blood seeping into his shirt. He could feel the hole in his stomach where the bullet had passed through, and he staggered away from Natasha, who looked extremely shocked.

Iron Man seized Carabas, as Clint fell to his knees, pain snapping him back into reality. The whole thing was all so absurd and funny, that Clint started _laughing_ as he lay on the ground, blood flowing steadily through his fingers.

Natasha bent over him, mouth moving extremely quickly, tears flowing down her face. She allowed them, because she knew that she had done this. This was her fault. She held his face and tapped gently, in Morse Code, _I am so sorry._

Clint reached up a bloody to tuck a long lock of her flaming hair behind her ear, tapping; _Not the first time I've been shot. Love you._

She knelt over him and they shared what she feared would be their last kiss ever. Clint thought it was the best kiss yet, but it might've been his blood loss and that he was feeling really groggy.

His eyelids started to droop, but she kept tapping repeatedly on his face,_ Clint, don't let go don't let go the medics are on their way Clint don't die on me Clint please. Please. I love you._

Clint's face felt too numb to make it out. He could only catch things like _Me, Clint_ and _Love you,_ and slowly, he let himself succumb to the darkness.

The medics didn't arrive soon enough, and as Clint closed his eyes, Natasha felt herself plunge into a state of paranoia.

* * *

**MORE CHAPTERS TO COME! :D**

**Love you guys, please review!**


	18. Chapter 17

**Yeah, so you know how I said it would take like two more chapters. Not seeming to be happening. It will end eventually, but until then, keep reading! :D**

**Keep leaving the reviews, because I love reading them. They always make my day.**

**Clint: Ouch, I got shot again?**

**Tony: Yup. This never happens to me, as you can see... :)**

**Steve: Or me.**

**Thor: Neither me.**

**Bruce: Or-**

**Clint: Okay, okay! Jesus.**

**Bruce: You didn't let me finish!**

**Clint: Uh oh.**

**Bruce: YOU DIDN'T LET ME IRSU VBJO;S\DNBIOZJJO**

**Clint: ...crap...**

**Tony: Uh... If anyone asks, Legolas did it.**

**Natasha: And for once you tell the truth. **

**Tony: Well... Uh... *thinks.* YA ne noshu nizhneye belʹye (Я не ношу нижнее белье) Beat that! I've been learning Russian. Hah!**

**Natasha: *smirks.* You just said you're not wearing underwear.**

**Tony: I'm going to kill that instructor...**

**PLEASE REVIEW!**

* * *

No one could trust Natasha.

At least, no one _felt_ as though they could trust her anymore. She'd lied and lied time and time again, relentless, harmful, fatal lies. Nobody knew if anything she had ever told them was true.

Fury kept her locked up in a tight room, almost like a jail cell. Cold floors and walls, and only an opening for food. She didn't argue or refuse; her mind was too shocked to do anything.

This was having different effects on all the Avengers, some of them being more impacted than others.

Bruce was utterly confused. Natasha was always a nice person once you got to know her, and her and Clint had a certain chemistry together. He didn't understand why and how she got under Carabas' control. She would have needed to put the suit on willingly in order for the mind control to fully work. Bruce and Tony spent their hours analyzing the chip and the suit for any information, but none of it really seemed to help Natasha's cause. There was no physical proof that she was innocent, because the chip only worked _if_ the wearer put it on their skin.

Yes, primititve technology, but if Natasha had put it on willingly, she must have known the consequences of being controlled by some random dude with an idiotic alias name.

Thor was frustrated. Why would Natasha double-cross them? Wasn't she trying to help them? And then why couldn't Natasha take off the mind-controlling device herself? She seemed to be able to resist it enough to talk to Clint, and Natasha was probably strong enough to strain herself to yank the chip off of her neck? Thor kept sipping his coffee as he sat over Clint's bedside, watching him. He hoped that Clint would be okay, and just how many times can Midgardians stand being shot?

Steve was caught in between fighting for Natasha's innocence and fighting for her guilt. She was the one who broke Clint's arm, the one who threatened him, and the one who held him at gunpoint in the first place, but she was under Carabas' control. Or was she? According to Bruce and Tony, the chip only worked if she put it on her neck willingly, so Steve was torn. Was Natasha to be held responsible, or Carabas? Yes, Carabas had shot Clint twice, so he would serve jail time, but there was some conflict about whether or not Natasha would serve punishment as well.

Maria and Pepper just had a hard time believing what had happened had actually... _Happened_. They believed that Natasha had been tricked into putting the chip on-even though that was impossibly unlikely-and that she was being controlled to retrieve the time capsule, but they just couldn't believe that Natasha would do this willingly. She _loved_ Clint, and she would never hurt him.

Fury was also _slightly_ concerned, he just didn't show it. All he could think was; _Natasha tried to kill Clint,_ and _one of my best assassins just tried to kill the other. Now I'm losing one or both of them._ There were moments where Fury would sit in his office, head in his hands, closing his eye and listening to the pounding of his thoughts and his deep breathing.

The most impacted one must have been Tony, contrary to popular belief. When asked about how he was dealing with it, Tony would make a joke about Legolas and Spidey and then change the subject quickly, or turn back to whatever he was working on earlier. Tony would practically lock himself in the workshop or lab for hours, looking at his list of objects that Clint had requested him to make. Clint used to add random items such as; lightsabers, a ring that would actually make him invisible, a talking hat, and etc.,-all from certain fandoms-to a long list that he asked Tony to complete if he had the time. Tony never did so, however, seeing as he didn't want to make something for Legolas when he had never done anything in return for Tony. Now though, Tony had completed the talking hat and lightsabers, but was having a hard time with the ring.

Tony only did this to keep his mind off of Clint's condition, and off of the damage Natasha had done.

Natasha couldn't tell what was her fault, and what was caused by Carabas. Everything was muddled and folded together, welded like two pieces of metal. She didn't know whether or not she wanted to shoot Clint in the first place. She remembered holding the gun at his face. The pointless anger and unreasonable hatred that flowed through her veins, pumping in her blood. Natasha remembered Carabas calling her Natalia, and telling her to shoot Clint countless times. She remembered her cartilige in her knee ripping, and the fact that Fury had gotten people to bandage it up only made her feel worse. She didn't deserve to heal, and she felt that same unreasonable hatred again, only this time for herself.

When Clint came out of surgery, and after Fury had told him to rest, he laid down in his bed, but couldn't sleep. He tossed and turned, being wary not to tear his stitches. Clint couldn't close his eyes, but he knew that only one thing haunted him.

Natasha had told him that she loved him. What if it was a lie?

Everything could have been an act. Natasha had lied to him about who knows how many things?

_Carabas,_ Clint hated that name. _That sick scum who calls himself a human. He did this. He caused all this to happen, just because he wanted the stupid time capsule._

Someone tapped on his door lightly, a sound that Clint suddenly was glad and welcomed. He slid out of bed and padded barefoot and still shirtless-not caring that his wound dressings were out in the open-and opened the door. Tony stood there, holding a lightsaber in one hand and a covered platter in the other. As soon as he saw Clint, he shoved them into his arms, and put a mask of a scowl on.

"Nice of you to get up, sleeping Beauty," Tony snorted, crossing his arms. "How's your little booboo?"

Clint knew that Tony was secretly worried, and he played it to his advantage. "Aw, so you do care." He sneered and Tony's eyes narrowed, hardening his expression.

"Oh, lay it off, you bloody show hawk." Tony turned and started leaving, and Clint didn't stop him.

"Thank you!" He called after him, and suddenly Tony turned around, and only to say,

"You squawk anything out of your beak, and I'm clipping your wings."

"Geez," Clint muttered, loud enough so Tony could hear, "Stop using all the bird references, Fe-Man."

Tony stopped in the middle of the hallway and turned around to grin at Clint. "So you are educated. Could've fooled me."

"Well I never memorized the periodic table," Clint replied, opening the platter to see a bunch of pancakes and feeling his mouth water at the smell, "And I only know Fe equals Iron, so, yeah, you know."

Tony shrugged and continued down the hallway, whistling an unrecognizable tune.

Clint turned and kicked the door closed, not taking his eyes off the mouth-water pancakes drenched in syrup. Sitting down on his bed, he dug into his meal, savouring every bite. After his delicious breakfast, Clint decided to play with his new lightsaber.

After that little incident, he made a mental note to buy new curtains, new sheets, new pillows and fix the drywall. All of it.

* * *

**Review, and then we'll have casual sex. And then I'll probably forget your name. -Tony**

**Clint is a close fan of Taylor Swift.**

**Tony was once found shaking his butt in his workshop to Avril Lavigne.**

**Natasha once got to sing with Demi Lovato, and ultimately fan-girled.**

**Steve thinks modern music nowadays is terrible, but occasionally listens to Celine Dion and Adele.**

**Bruce doesn't care, but Hulk finds Thrift Shop to be amazing.**

**Clint thought it'd be fun to introduce Thor to Gangnam Style. The results were over a million dollars in repairs.**


	19. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer: If I had a billion dollars and only a minute to spend some of it, I would buy Marvel. Straight down. Alas, I do not have a billion dollars.**

**AN: Will have more. Will have more, I cross my heart. Today we were doing the periodic table in Science and my teacher asked where is Iron on the periodic table and I was the first one to raise my hand.**

**THANK YOU TUMBLR, AND IRON MAN. I LOVE YOU BOTH.**

**I LOVE YOU READERS TOO! :D :D**

**Please review.**

* * *

It was a beautiful night in New York, the sky was clear, wind was warm against the slightly cooler air, and there was a beautifully lit skyline that could be seen only from Stark Tower.

Too bad none of the Avengers could, or were in the mood to enjoy it.

Natasha's mind was a mess as she sat in the corner of her cell, her mind as damaged and as dirty as she was. She was stripped of her suit and in nothing but a plain pink tee-shirt and sweatpants three sizes too big for her, and she hardly knew what was real and not anymore, but her mind was set on one thing, honed into that on thing she knew she had to do. She had to see Clint, one last time before she plummeted of the cliff of sanity and into the sea of insanity.

Clint was holed up in his nest-as Tony would put it-eating pints of ice cream in a beanbag chair he'd stolen from Tony's library, headphones on and music blasting, staring at nothing but the wall. He was ignoring the world, listening to depressing and sappy love songs, and had his curtains drawn. For once, and just a small moment, Clint regretted the fact that he couldn't just sit in complete darkness like other people who had been depressed.

No one came to tease him about the fact that he was acting like a teenage girl during her period, not even Tony.

Pepper and Maria seemed to have the most condolences, being the ones who brought him the ice cream in the first place.

He was doing fine, even slightly enjoying being able to eat all this ice cream and not be interrupted while listening to music, until Christina Perri started playing into his eardrums. Clint wanted to tear off his headphones-he generally never liked Christina Perri; not because of her, but because the first time he heard one of her songs was when a girl had screeched it aloud for the world to hear. But now, it was playing some song he'd never even heard, but he liked the way it sounded.

However, Clint slowly pulled off his headphones, as if hesitant to continue the song, but he knew he had to take the headphones off. When he finally managed to get them off, he dangled them in his fingers, playing with the cords. Clint had this inevitable feeling inside gnawing at him that made him want to just chill with Natasha, train with her, talk to her, just see her face. That's all he wanted, just to know that his Nat would always be there.

_His Nat_.

Clint decided that that was exactly what he was going to get. Getting up and out of his chair, putting his headphones down onto the chair, leaving the ice cream tub on the ground even though he knew it was going to melt and the condensation would make a mess of his floor, Clint grabbed his quiver with arrows and his bow-just in case the guards watching her needed a little persuasion.

He pulled on a black t-shirt and strapped his quiver on. Clint pulled on his shooting glove and ran a finger through his hair, bracing himself for seeing Natasha one last time.

Walking to the door, he fretted over what Fury would do. At last, he concluded, _damn Fury, because nothing is stopping me from seeing Nat. Nothing._

Steve saw Clint acting very oddly, treading lightly, leaving very little distress in his wake, unlike his usual self. Steve stalked Clint around for a couple minutes, until Clint finally turned around to check his surroundings.

To say Clint wasn't surprised would be lying, because Clint was clearly anything but calm. His bow hit Steve in the face twice before Clint realized who it was. "What're you doing?" Clint hissed, trying to pump anger into his voice, which was hard because Steve hadn't been doing anything really wrong, "Stop following me!"

"What are you doing walking around with your weapons when you could clearly be making fun of Tony?" Steve asked, with an air of superiority hovering in his voice, "I heard his suit is unguarded, and there are rhinestones and glue in his top cabinet."

Clint pretended to act tempted, but it didn't need a lot of acting. _No, I can't get distracted. I have to see Nat. Nat first, Operation: Tulle Iron Man later._ Clint shook his head to snap himself out of it. "Uh yeah, I'll go uh... Later. Going to go get a snack." He pointed with two thumbs towards the kitchen.

"You better not sneak around with your bow hanging around in your hand like that," Steve advised, arms crossed around his toned back. "People might think you're... Up to something." He bent over slightly, eyebrow raised and a strange look plastered on to his face.

"And people might think that you've been watching too much Harry Potter," Clint mutters, tucking his bow away, "You sound like..." Clint stopped, pausing to think. Who was that guy who hated on Harry with the greasy slick black hair? Was his name like Snake or whatever? "The guy that Alan Rickman plays."

Steve's hand balled in tight fists, but Clint didn't see, because they were behind his back. "His name's Professor-"

"Oh, look at the time, I'm starving." Clint rubbed his stomach, wounds getting a little burnt. "I'll see you later, Rogers." He saluted to him, and ran off, leaving a slightly dumbfounded Captain America in the hallway.

Clint walked in the direction of the kitchen, but at the end veered in the other direction, pulling his bow out with an arrow and sneaking around the corner to where Natasha was being held. He stuck his head out slightly to see, and held his bow out, a suction cup arrow pointing towards the camera. He fired, covering the lens and leaped out, using his momentum to fire two arrows at the guards. These specific arrows had been dipped in sleeping liquid, and Clint stepped over the unconscious guards, stepping over to the silver door.

He knew he didn't have a lot of time, so he had to work extremely fast. Clint had an excellent idea, and was glad that he put his lightsaber in his back pocket. He pulled it out and stabbed at the door, but it practically bounced back, nearly hitting him in the face. He turned it off and tucked it back into his pocket, disappointed. Finally, Clint put his ear against the door and called, "Natasha, if you're near the door, stand back."

Clint backed up, turned away and without looking, shot a exploding arrow straight at the door, causing a miniuature explosion, breaking the door open. As the dust cleared, he saw Natasha sitting in the corner, one knee bandaged and the other one scraped pulled up to her chest. She looked up immediately as Clint ran in, and pushing herself up on the padded walls, she leaped into his arms, and they just enjoyed each other's embrace for a long time.  
He was the only one allowed to hold her like this, the only one who was allowed to hug her.

Clint kissed her hair, her temples, and her nose. He didn't have to talk, but she knew that he wanted to see her as much as she did.

"Clint, I'm sorry," She sobbed into his chest. Her face was dry, but her words were pouring with hurt and emotion, "He was controlling me and I didn't even-"

But he put his fingers to her lips, and ran his fingers, smoothing down her messy red hair. "Nat, stop talking."

"I love you," She whispers, swallowing. She pulled his face down with her slender fingers, and let their lips meet again. It was a soft kiss, and they just held each other for an extremely long time, swaying slightly.

It wasn't long until Fury and more SHIELD agents came by, and to tear them apart. Fury pulled Clint away, yanking him back with brute force. Heavily armored SHIELD agents, took Natasha's elbows and pulled her away, and she writhed and screamed.

"NAT!" He yelled, reaching out for her hand.

"CLINT!" She stuck out her hand, and their fingers had just an inch of air away from them...

But Fury gave one last tug and Clint was out the door.

"Nat, I'll come back!" He yelled, as she pushed and struggled with her injured knee against the agents, "Wait for me!"

She fought, struggling, but stopped brief enough to swallow hard and nod back at him.

The last thing he heard was from her was; "Let go of me!" And then the loud sound of flesh hitting flesh. Clint actually felt bad for the guard that got hit, but Fury still didn't stop tugging.

In the middle of the hall, Clint shrugged off his arm and gave Fury a hard shove, something that he would have never dared to do. "What the hell, Fury! She's innocent; Carabas did this, not her!"

Fury stayed calm, locking his arms behind his back as usual, with his same old scowl on his face. "We're in the process of interrogating Carabas, and we can not have you interrupting everytime he is about to tell us something. We need you to talk to him,_ Barton_."

Clint cringed as Fury spat his last name. "Fine. And just so you know, I'm not helping you because I want to, it's for Natasha."

"Keep telling yourself that." Fury mutters, and leads Clint, who's gripping his bow so tightly his knuckles are white, down the long hallway to another silver door. He nods his head in that direction, and Clint pulls open the door with no hesitation.

Sitting at the end of the table is Carabas, still in his pinstripe suit, but hair falling messily around his eyes. His wrists are cuffed to the table, and legs cuffed to the chair. As he sees Clint enter, Carabas starts rocking back and forth violently, screaming and spitting all over the place, causing an alarming sight.

The door closes behind him, and Clint is left alone with the crazy man.

Clint stands at the end of the table. "_Carabas,_" He hisses, and Carabas smiles underneath that mustache, teeth glinting like a maniac.

"The little birdy didn't die." Carabas said quietly, smiling still, "How do I know? A little birdy told me so."

"Carabas," Clint said firmly, "You are not crazy. Stop acting so."

"How do I know?" Carabas repeated again, only with a higher pitch, "A little birdy told me so, and then the birdy flitted away, only to die and decay."

Clint looked at the mirror on the wall, where he knew Fury was watching. _He's crazy,_ Clint mouthes at the mirror, but then there is a reassuring amount of taps on the glass from the other side, Morse code translating into;

_He's not. He's acting, like you said so._

So Clint slowly turned back to Carabas, ripping his eyes off his reflection where he imagined Fury to be.

"The spider killed the bird," Carabas muttered, "How could that be so, Joe? Alas, but the spider killed the bird."

Clint was getting fed up, anger started surging through him, and he brought his fists up and slammed them into the table in front of him.

"CARABAS!" Clint barked, panting as he yelled, "Tell me. What. You wanted the capsule for."

Carabas shook slightly, sweat dripping from his forehead. "Time flying is fun, to move such the moon and the sun."

Clint shrugged, taking it as a slight answer. "Why did you control Natasha to go get it?"

There was a long silence, as Carabas thought it over slowly. He opened his mouth and gestured to Clint. Clint warily walked over, holding his ear close to Carabas' mouth.

Carabas took a breath, and then, very hesitantly, Clint brought his ear closer to listen.

"BECAUSE THE SPIDER KILLED THE BIRD!" Carabas screamed, making Clint snap back, holding his ear. Carabas burst into a fit of hideous laughter, shaking in his spot.

Clint had had enough. He took out his poison-dipped arrow and held it over Carabas' heart, hand shaking with anger. His face was knit with pain and frustration. "Tell me what you did to Natasha, or I will drive this arrow into this heart and kill you. Or I will make you wish I did."

Carabas didn't move for a long time, but then held out his chest, baring it to him. He smiled, flashing his sickly yellow teeth. "Go." He left his mouth in a O shape, and sat very still, waiting for Clint to stab him.

But Clint couldn't do it. He could have just plunged it right in, but Natasha would still go to jail for something that she didn't have control over. Shaking, he put the arrow back down onto the table, punched Carabas hard across the jaw, and walked out, flipping the finger at the mirror.

Clint mouthed swears and insults at the camera watching him, knowing full well Fury could understand him, but he didn't care. Holding his breath, Clint headed to the training room, where he started to vent his anger by beating up a punching bag.

He was finding someway to prove Natasha was innocent, no matter what it took.

* * *

**Thank you for reading!**

**Please reviewwww! :) **


	20. Chapter 19

**I AM SO SORRY I DIDN'T UPDATE YESTERDAY. MY INTERNET HAD BEEN SHOT. T_T Please forgive meee... Please.**

**Disclaimer: In no way do I own Marvel or any of the characters mentioned in this.**

**Before I forget, I recently hit over 5000 VIEWS! YOU GUYS KNOW HOW MINDBLOWING THAT IS?!**

**thank you. I love you all.**

**Please review!**

**Tony: ATTENTION ALL FELLOW TONY LOVERS AND OTHER CHARACTER HATERS! THERE WILL BE A NEW FANFIC COMING UP SOON, SO GET READY FOR MORE OF ME!**

**Thor: MAN OF IRON, YOU HAVE JOINED ME IN WHAT THE OTHERS ADDRESS AS TALKING TOO LOUDLY! I WELCOME YOU.**

**Tony: Uh... Thor, what?**

**Thor: THE ONE CALLED PEPPER WITH THE HAIR OF FIRE HAS INTRODUCED ME TO SOMETHING NEW. PLEASE DO THE STICKING TO THE AREA AROUND YOU TO SEE.**

***Texts from the Avengers time! :D***

**Thor: MAN OF IRON, I HAVE FOUND SOMETHING NEW!**

**Tony: Ah, Pepper introduced you to phones, right? Well she did the same to Steve, so it's nothing new.**

**Thor: THE PATRIOTIC ONE HAS THIS MINIATURE DEVICE AS WELL? VERY WELL, I SHALL SEE TO IT THAT WE WILL TO THE TALKING OF PHONES.**

**Tony: Uh... Good.**

**Thor: MAN OF IRON, THE ONE WITH THE EYES THAT REMAIN THOSE OF A HAWK HAS TOLD ME THAT WHEN YOU PUT A CERTAIN MIDGARDIAN SIGN ALONG WITH ANOTHER, IT CREATES A LIKENESS OF FACES.**

**Thor: :) BEHOLD. I AM SMILING.**

**Tony: Good for you Thor, now please stop bothering me, I'm trying to work.**

**Thor: :) :) :) :)**

**Tony: I get it, now please stop.**

**Thor: :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)**

**Tony: Hawkeye, I'm going to skin you.**

**Thor: BUT MAN OF IRON, IT IS STILL I WHOM YOU ARE STILL COMMUNICATING WITH, YET YOU ADDRESS ME AS THE ONE WITH THE EYES THAT REMAIN THOSE OF A HAWK.**

**Tony: ... Never mind.**

* * *

Despite being ignored and avoided all day long, it wasn't all too bad for Clint, and anyway, his mind was too clustered and racked to notice much.

Clint had put his arrows and bow back, but people still stayed away from him, as if he were to suddenly shoot them in the face. He guessed that by now, Fury must've shown them the tape of him holding an arrow to Carabas' heart. He didn't know why, though, he hadn't plunged the arrow in, much less pierce the scum's skin, so why was everyone acting so diligent and treading around him so lightly?

Fatigue was running its careful traces on him, making him feel bad that he couldn't sleep, but Clint didn't _want_ to sleep. He needed a shower.

Making his way to the bathroom, SHIELD agents quickly bolting out of his way. Clint fought the absurd urge to growl ferociously at the new trainees, but instead shot them fake glares. The new trainees tried to ignore him and ran off.

Climbing into the shower and allowing the water to wash over him, he closed his eyes. He fingered his bullet scars, and his new wound. The water washed the fatigue off of him, slowly but relieving him and lifting the pain off of him. Clint still missed Natasha, and it still hurt him how he couldn't see her or even converse with her just because of something she didn't even do.

"Why are you doing this to me?" Clint stopped the water, listening to the faint female voice outside of his door.

A male voice was just as faint, and he continued conversing with the woman. "Listen, Pepper-"

Clint heard Pepper sigh, and then her heels clicking lightly. "No, you listen. Natasha is innocent; it's not her fault, she was under the influence of a mind controlling device."

"Everything is against her case, there's nothing we can do to help her!"

"Well try!" She sounded extremely exasperated, "Fury, I don't believe there's nothing you can do about this! You have to try."

"We have. It's just not working well enough, Carabas is refusing to tell us anything."

"Well then, _try harder_." Clint heard her heels click and Fury's boots trudging along behind her, their steps fading.

Clint pulled his shirt over his head and yanked his pants on. Forcing himself to trudge to somewhere to do _something_ else to keep his mind off of Natasha until he figured out a way to get back to her, he went into the library.

Tony's library was filled with books on war studies, machinery through the ages, and other old-age boring things that Clint had no interest in. Bored and frustrated, he grabbed a random book from the bookshelf and sank down onto the floor, idly staring at the page, mind distracted on other things.

Clint was so focused on thinking up a plan that it took him a long time after Maria had entered for him to notice her.

"Clint. Clint. Clint, can you hear me?"

Immediately, Clint looked up from his page, and focused slowly on Maria, who was bending over in front of him, a crooked smile tugging at the corner of her lips.

"You've been reading that same page for the past ten minutes." She murmured, looking down at his book, and studying it.

He frowned, pretending to be annoyed. "Well, I'm a slow reader."

"It's blank," she answered firmly, pressing a finger down onto the page.

Clint slowly glanced down to the first page of the book, which was a blank page, and had to stifle a slightly annoyed smile. He heard Maria try not to laugh, and clear her throat to try to cover it up.

"So," Clint stood up, slamming the book shut. "Can I help you?"

"Yes," she answered, matter-of-factly, "Tony's running low on supplies, so we need someone to run out and pick up some."

"Why me?" He whined, this time actually annoyed that he of all the other Avengers _perfectly_ capable of getting the groceries had to go out to the store.

Maria allowed the smile to slip onto her lips. "Because," she answered, "You're the only person who doesn't have an excuse."

Clint sputtered and stammered for a good response, but his brain couldn't seem to find one. Maria gave him a solitary nod, as if her job had been done and turned, walking out with the same grace that had brought her into this room.

Muttering underneath his breath, Clint plucked his helmet off the wall and rode down the elevator to his motorcycle, eyes lifting up and off the grocery list.

At least now he had something to distract him.

* * *

The texting icon was flashing at him. Again.

Tony ignored it the way he had ignored the five previous ones, but it went on flashing with mindless patience, as irritating as whoever had sent it. Tony was not in the mood for texting, so after he had finished the final round of his soldering and tinkering, he leaned over to slide a forefinger across the icon and led it over to the trash can.

Seeing as though it was from Legolas however, Tony decided he might reply, just this one time. Pulling the phone closer to his face, he looked over the messages.

_Hey, do u wnt blackberries or blueberries?_

_Nvrmind, I got something way better_

_1% milk or skim? Or like soy milk?_

_How many eggs shuld I buy? White or brown? What's the difference?_

_I just found something called tofu eggs, should I get it?_

_Wait, u r paying me back for this, right?_

Followed by a round of:

_Tony. TONY FRICKING STARK!_

_TONY STARCHHHHH_

_Antonio Starchio Lameo_

_MAN OF IRON_

_ARGGGHHH ANTONTON, ANSWER MEEEE_

_Fine, I'm getting 2% milk, fatten u up more_

Snickering to himself, Tony opened up the keyboard and tapped his fingers onto it, sending back a quick;

_Thanks for warning me, Merida._

Tony occupied himself working on his new project-building something that would keep the time capsule protected and was so busy that it took him yet another half an hour to notice that Pepper hadn't yet appeared.

Normally she would come down around every meal time and made sure that he had eaten or nagged him about something if he hadn't gone upstairs for so many hours, but when he looked up from his suit schematics or his schematics for the box to contain the capsule, there was no sign of his normally annoyingly punctual personal assistant.

He frowned, puzzled. "JARVIS, what's Pepper up to?"

"She is looking for Clint," the AI answered, "And has not yet asked me for help; even though I do know where he is."

Tony had to let out a small laugh. That was his assistant, never asking for help until she absolutely needed it. He dropped his stuff and went to take her to him, and thought he might get some food and fresh air in the process.

By the time he had found her, Steve, Bruce and Fury decided to tag along as well, Bruce going to pick up some wires and whatnot, Fury going to supervise, and Steve was just plain bored.

They managed to track Clint down, and he was walking along the street, one grocery bag in each hand. Steve and Bruce strutted right up, and he gave all five of them a welcoming smile.

Clint handed the bags to Bruce and Steve and stuck his hands into his pockets.

"So, you guys stalking me, or what?" He asked, looking up at the bright streetlights.

The night was exceptionally clear and cool, so everyone was either wearing a light jacket or a sweater.

"No," Steve stated, "We're bored enough to come help you, so you should be grateful."

Clint rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

Someone ran up to the group, jumping up and down in excitement. "OMG," The teenage girl exclaimed, "You're the Avengers!" She gave them a big smile, revealing her braces. "I love you guys! Can I get your autographs?" The girl held out a book and a pen, rocking back and forth on her heels all the while.  
Bruce looked like he was about the hesitate, but a smug Tony elbowed past him and eagerly took the book and pen from the girl. "Surree, what's your name?" He asked, clicking the pen.

"Katy," She answered quickly, pigtails shaking as she shook as well. "So like, you're the Hulk guy, right?" The girl clapped her hands together.

"I'm actually Bruce Banner," He informed her, "My alter-ego, which is uncontrollable is actually-"

"Whatever," She interrupted rudely, and handed him the book and pen.

Bruce hesitantly signed.

"And you're Captain America," Katy added, pointing at Steve, "Do you actually have powers?"

"I-" Steve tried to find his wording, but Katy rolled her eyes again, and handed the book to him after Bruce finished.

"My friend calls herself a fan, but wait 'till she sees this, she's going to be so jealous!" Katy then turned to Clint and asked him, "So like, where's the spider girl?"

Clint's jaws were hurting long before he realized he was gritting his teeth. "Her name is _Black Widow_."

Katy didn't really care, she just held out her book for Clint. "I heard she's evil, is she?"

At this point, he couldn't take it anymore. Clint slapped the book out of the teenager's hands and whirled around on the heel of his foot. He stormed off, until an adult and their child stepped into his path.

The woman was actually very pretty, and she was balancing a cake box in one hand, and the other holding her kid's hand. "Hello Hawkeye, I'm a reporter for Continental News, and there's a rumor going around that the infamous Black Widow is evil; would you like to make a statement?"

Clint held his breath for a long time, and stared at the cake box in her hand. He didn't know if she was just messing with him, and he didn't _care_ if she _was_ trying to get a rise out of him by working with the teenager, but Clint pulled his emergency dagger from his pocket and stabbed it straight into the cake box, piercing through the cardboard and sticking into the cake. As he did this, he let an exasperated scream and left the dagger handle sticking out of the box and ran, with the kid and the woman gaping at him.

Steve stuffed the groceries into Tony's arm and ran after Clint. As he passed the woman, he cried, "Sorry!", giving her a sympathetic look.

Bruce walked by, nodding empathtically and trailing close, nipping on Steve's and Clint's heels.

As Tony and Pepper speedwalked by, Tony pulled out the dagger and peered at the cake inside the box. It was an Avengers cake, clearly for the woman's son, and had figurines of each of the Avengers on it. There was a slit where the dagger had entered, but was otherwise alright. Tony gave the dagger a lick and nodded.

"Avengers Cake, good choice," He ran his forefinger across the blade, getting more icing off. "Mind telling me where you got that?" He asked, but Pepper pulled him away, yanking him away from the wide-eyed woman and her child who couldn't believe he was seeing his favorite superheroes in front of him.

Fury walked by, looked into the box, and gently pulled out the small Nick Fury figurine. He gave them a small nod, and continued walking after the group in front of him.

The kid looked up at his mom and rubbed his eyes. "COOL!" He cried, and jumped up and down.

* * *

**If you are a new trainee as a SHIELD intern, despite what Hawkeye tells you otherwise, DO NOT rub Director Fury's head. It will not bring you good luck.**

**This is the reason why they need a new intern in the first place.**

**Also, Mr. Parker, if you are reading this, please do not jump off the Helicarrier when not in uniform in front of the new trainees.**

**Whomever put up the Iron Man suit, Thor's Mjolnir, Black Widow's stingers, and Captain America's shield are to take them down IMMEDIATELY from Amazon. **

**And remove all rhinestones.**

**REVIEW PLEASE!**


	21. Apologies

**HELLO GUYS!**

**Tony: Hey my fans!**

**Steve: H'lo.**

**Thor: *waving enthusiastically as he beats Bruce in a arm wrestling competition.***

**Bruce: *strained grunts of effort.***

**Natasha: Hey people.**

**Darcy: 'Sup!**

**Clint: Hey Hawkies! *waves happily!***

**Jane: Hey.**

**Pepper: Welcome.**

**Fury: WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU MOTHERFUCKING GUYS DOING?! GET BACK TO YOUR FUCKING JOBS!**

**Um... Yeah, they look kind of busy. So anyway, this is an announcement to let you know that I am starting this ask box-with Fury's permission... Kind of-for the Avengers!**

**Feel free to ask them any questions you wish, leave reviews, or bombard my private messaging box!**

**Or you don't have to ask them questions, just leave like sentences or suggestions for conversations or something... Ask them about their backstories that no one knows about!**

**Love you guys!**

**And the stories will be posted on a new story called ASK THE AVENGERS!**

**I apologize for not giving you more of the Birdy and the Spider. So here is a preview.**

* * *

Bruce found Clint, ten minutes later. And the actual Hawkeye, yes, tough-guy smart-aleck asshole prankster was sitting on a park bench, in a dark cold park _crying_.

Bruce found himself full of pity for the poor guy.

* * *

**Tumblr... Why you so distracting?!**


	22. Chapter 20

**Wow. So yeah, the ending is kind of rushed, but an epilogue is coming... **

**SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING RECENTLY, I NEEDED TO FIND AN ENDING! :(**

**:) Well, enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel.**

**An: THANK YOU GUYS FOR STICKING BY ME FOR SO LONG AND PUTTING UP WITH ME, THANK YOU THANK YOU, I CANNOT THANK YOU ENOUGH.**

* * *

Bruce found Clint, ten minutes later. And the actual Hawkeye, yes, tough-guy smart-aleck asshole prankster was sitting on a park bench, in a dark cold park crying.

Bruce found himself full of pity for the poor guy.

He took a seat beside Clint, letting the air fill only with the light sobbing noises the assassin was emmiting.

"Clint, we're doing everything we can." Bruce told him gently, "She'll be out before you know it. She's innocent, we just need some proof."

"Find the proof," Was all Clint managed to say, and then he wiped away the remnants of his tears with his sleeves.

Bruce opened up the plastic bag in this silence and took out a box. The lights outside were very dim, and Bruce couldn't see what was in the plastic box, but he could tell they were some kind of fruit.

He clicked open the box, and took out one of the small fruits, rolling it in his hand. The scientist took a bite of the fruit, and instantly his mouth filled with tangy and sweet juice from the fruit. Bruce never particularly enjoyed strawberries, but he swallowed, and handed the box to Clint.

Tony and Pepper came up, and Clint, still sad, passed the box of berries over to the redhead.

Tony quickly confiscated the box and held it away from Pepper. "Barton, what are these?"

"Strawberries," He answered quietly, hiding his face in the dim light.

There was a long silence, and then Tony gave the box back to Bruce. "Don't kill my girlfriend."

Clint quickly looked up, sudden confusion on his face. "What?"

Pepper felt her face flush a nice crimson, but the pale streetlights hid it. "I'm allergic to strawberries," she explained, smiling warily, "I guess I should have informed you all..." She trailed off, and looked away, wind whipping wisps of her hair all around her face.

There was a long silence, until Fury walked over, and held out the little figurine of him for the others to see.

"Yo, is it just me, or did they get my fucking nose wrong?"

* * *

Tony's eyes opened.

He didn't know why; he was sleeping very peacefully and suddenly he was awake. He couldn't remember why he was up.

Tony rolled to his side, noticed that Pepper wasn't laying there, so he quickly sat up, head whipping around.

"Pepper?" He called, looking at his empty surroundings. A bright light pulsated mindlessly beside him, on the bedside table.

Absently, he reached over and slid a forefinger along the touch screen, and unlocked it. It revealed a text from Pepper, so he opened it up.

_Tony, why is Steve scared of the AC?_

The alter-ego of Iron Man snickered quietly, remembering something he probably shouldn't have done to Steve.

_Oh, what happened to Captain Sparkles? Give me a recap._

She replied with a distinct:_ I heard crying noises from his room so I went by, and he was just lying there in a fetal position, rolling back and forth and moaning, stop please, Tony promised they wouldn't._

He inhaled loudly, hoping she couldn't see him trying not to laugh his ass off. _Oh god, really?_

_Tony, tell me what you did. Now._

_I may or may not have turned the AC on a little higher than I should have._

Pepper didn't reply for a long time, leaving him in a dry silence as he waited for her response. Seeing no icon telling him that she was typing, he wrote:

_And I may or may not have told him it was trying to freeze him again._

She didn't reply again, which gave Tony enough time to let out a small chuckle and lay back down on the bed, hands on his stomach and letting the room fill with a calming blue from his arc reactor.

The next morning, after a quick breakfast, the Avengers-well, most of them,-were called for a brief meeting on what they should do with Carabas and Natasha.

On Carabas' punishment, the vote was unanimous. He would serve jail time, and ten years was the minimum. Clint wanted a life sentence for him, but the others said they'd have to let the judge decide.

For Natasha, almost everybody voted to let her go; after going to court. And that one person who didn't agree, was none other than Clint himself. He believed that Natasha should have been released ASAP, so he didn't get why the others wouldn't agree with them. In the end, everybody other than Fury changed their minds and just said that she should be able to get out and heal.

There was a _lot_ of nagging from everybody, and in the end, Natasha was free, but on probation from immediately going back on the team. She'd have to wait a small week to get the paperwork in order and report to the newspaper the same BS about why she was on the bad guy's side, etc.

When Natasha was released, Clint wrapped his arms around her very quickly, and they stood there, in each other's arms for a very long time, oblivious to the world around them. SHIELD employees were told by Tony to walk around the two love animals, and nobody was allowed to touch them.

"I've missed you Barton," She muttered into his shirt at last, breaking the careful silence between them. "There's no obnoxious or annoying people in the cell, but I'll get used to it."

Clint let out a lame laugh, informing, "I worked hard to get you out, do I have to get Fury to put you back in?"

He could feel her smile through his shirt, and he pulled her face up and leaned over to kiss her gently on the cheek. As he leaned over though, she re-directed his face so that his lips landed on hers, and in the end, they only pulled apart because they ran out of air.

"Ah, what a beautiful love story," Tony sighed, leaning against the wall, "And they lived happily ever- HEY! NO THROWING... Whatever it was back there while I'm talking!" He jabbed a finger at laughing Clint and Natasha, whom had just thrown a pencil at his face.

Hand in hand, the two assassins left Tony in the hallway, and I guess, maybe, they did live happily ever after. I mean, they're Avengers, after all.

* * *

**So, an epilogue is coming and I'm starting my new Avengers fanfiction, check it out! :D**


	23. Chapter 21

**Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel. :(**

**AN: It's the end. Thank you for sticking so close with me for so long, putting up with me talking to myself, and not uploading for a day; I know how long that must be. Thank you for still liking my horrible suspense. :)**

**Hey, new fanfiction will be up ASAP! :D**

**Clint: Stage bow guys, stage bow!**

***all stage bow and wave***

**Tony: I love you all! See you soon! :D**

**Thor: I WISH TO VIEW MANY OF YOUR BEAUTIFUL FACES ONCE AGAIN.**

**Natasha: *holding Clint's hand* Thank you.**

**Clint: Thanks Hawkie fans! And BlackHawk fans and Clintasha fans! *whispers* Uh Nat, don't look now, but you're holding my hand.**

**Natasha: I know. And it's sweaty.**

**Steve: Thank you all. Uh, I love you guys? *girls swoon***

**Bruce: Thank you again!**

**Pepper: Thanks.**

**Darcy: THANKS BUDDY BOYS. NERDS. GIRLS. GUYS. You know, same ol' mumbo jumbo.**

**Thanks motha fuckas! -Guess who?**

**Jane: What they said.**

* * *

Epilogue:

It had only been a week, but Natasha had never slogged through such slower or longer seven days.  
Using two hands, she scooped up all the papers on her dusty desk and dropped them into the recycling bin. Closing her eyes gently, she put her foot in and stepped on them, knowing that she would never have to see them again.

Natasha was so busy ridding her room of Carabas that she didn't notice Clint come in until he hugged her gently from the back, resting his head on her shoulder.

She stood still for a second, smiling to herself and resting her hands on his wrapped around her waist.

The two were 'officially' dating, which didn't change much, just the fact that now the paparazzi were mobbing them because they were the hottest new couple and that Clint now had a reason to be jealous when the magazines spread rumors. Not saying that Clint got jealous a lot, because he knew that Natasha was fully his.

Also, there was no more free Clint, when he could walk on the street and wink at any random girl, but he was fine with that. Natasha was all he wanted, and that's exactly what he had.

"You doing okay?" He whispered softly into her neck.

She sighed contentedly and leaned back, swaying gently with him. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Okay," Clint kissed her neck lightly. "I was thinking we could do something tonight, because it's your first real night back as an Avenger. Catch a movie, get some dinner..."

"Like a date?" Her tone was amused, and her calm and content face had been replaced with a smirk.

"Yeah, I thought since I never took you on an actual date before, so maybe now's the time."

"As soon as I finish cleaning up," Natasha slowly broke out of his embrace, making him hmph and sit on the bed.

He watched her manuever around the room, scooping up clothes and close drawers. Clint didn't make any move to help her, because he knew she would probably protest against that.

A comforting silence was lingering in the air, and no words were needed to be transferred to let the other know that they loved each other very deeply.

This lasted for a while, when Natasha was almost completed, until someone broke the beautiful silence, hovering by the door. "Oh Nat..."

Clint and Natasha turned to the new voice, and there was Tony, Thor, Bruce and Steve by the doorway, all of them with their signature grins plastered on their faces. Pepper was standing there, shaking her head with Darcy beside her, a smug look on her face.

"You left the Avengers," Steve continued for the rest of them, and held up a pink tutu.

Bruce held up the rhinestone covered wand. "Which means you have to be initiated _all_ over again."

Natasha almost shrunk, shriveling up into the wall. Her wide green eyes pried into Clint's innocent smiling face.

"Come on guys," She tried to reason, turning back to the grinning group of men at her doorway, "Aren't we a little _too_ old for this?

"You guys did it for me just because I was under Loki's control," Clint replied, and nobody knows who was more surprised-Natasha or Pepper.

"Irresponsible people," Pepper muttered underneath her breath, and Natasha's face scrunched up.

"Pepper, help me!" Natasha called from her corner where she was hiding, but Pepper-trying to hide a big smile-left the room quickly, saying something like; I don't want to get involved with any of your shenanigans.

The Avengers-and Darcy-closed in, and the tower filled with some bloodcurdling screams and laughter.

"I can't believe. You let them attack me like that," Natasha mutters to Clint after the Avengers finished attacking her and as he bit his lip to stop from laughing. "You're my boyfriend. You're supposed to protect me."

He smiled and gently picked a rhinestone off her face. "I thought the great Black Widow could defend herself perfectly well."

She rolled her eyes and splashed cold water onto her face, scrubbing off the marker stained on it, and looked up into the mirror. "I can. It's just sometimes you might think that a guy might defend his girl."

"Well you should've asked for my help." Clint snarked, and he gently pulled the diamond clip that was stuck in her hair, making her wince. "Sorry,"

"Excuse me if you have _to ask_ when you're being ambushed by 6 people!" Natasha pulled the little diamonds littering her eyebrow off, and put them on the sink counter. "And you were a bystander, you could have intervened at least once!"

"I couldn't," He very quickly took shelter outside the bathroom. "Because I suggested tulle in the first place."

She glared up from where she was bending over at the counter, and practically lit her eyes on fire. "You _what_?!"

Clint realized now that he had made a horrible mistake. Natasha tugged at the pink tutu skirt around her waist, looking like a small girl who hated pink.

"I'm sorry can I make it up to you at dinner?" His tone was doubtful and he started to inch away from the door.

"If you make it alive to dinner," She growled, and Clint started running.

* * *

_**You put your arms around me and I believe that it's easier for you to let me go.**_

_**You put your arms around me, and I'm home.**_

_**How many times will you let me change my mind and turn around.**_

_**I can't decide if I'll let you save my mind or if I'll drown.**_

_**I hope that you see right through my walls.**_

_**I hope that you catch me, 'cause I'm already falling.**_

_**I never let a love get so close,**_

_**You put your arms around me, and I'm home.**_

_****_**Thank you again.**


End file.
